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THE
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
ELEVENTH EDITION
FIRST
SECOND
THIRD
FOURTH
FIFTH
SIXTH
SEVENTH
EIGHTH
NINTH
TENTH
ELEVENTH
edition, published in three
volumes, 1768 — 1771.
ten „ 1777— 1784.
eighteen „ 1788 — 1797.
twenty „ 1801 — 1810.
twenty „ 1815 — 1817.
twenty „ 1823 — 1824.
twenty-one „ 1830 — 1842.
twenty-two „ 1853 — 1860,
twenty-five „ 1875 — i88o. !
ninth edition and eleven
supplementary volumes, 1902 — 1903.
published in twenty-nine volumes, 1910 — 1911.
COPYRIGHT
in all countries subscribing to the
Bern Convention
by
THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS
of the
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
All rights reserved
THE
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE AND GENERAL
INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME XVIII
MEDAL to MUMPS
New York
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
342 Madison Avenue
Copyright, in the United States of America, 1911,
by
The Encyclopaedia Britannica Company.
INITIALS USED IN VOLUME XVIII. TO IDENTIFY INDIVIDUAL
CONTRIBUTORS, 1 WITH THE HEADINGS OF THE
ARTICLES IN THIS VOLUME SO SIGNED.
A.
Ca
•
A.
E.
G.
A.
E.
S.
A
F.
P.
A.
Go.*
A.
G. D.
A.
Ha.
A.
H.-S.
A
J. G,
A. J. L.
A.
L.
A.
M. C
A.
N.
A.
Se.*
A.
v. G.
A
Wa.
Arthur Cayley, LL.D., F.R.S.
See the biographical article, Cayley, Arthur.
Monge, Gaspard.
Rev. Alfred Ernest Garvie, M.A., D.D. f
Principal of New College, Hampstead. Member of the Board of Theology and the J ]irj|. ae i e
Board of Philosophy, London University. Author of Studies in the inner Life of ■ nur * re *
Jesus; &c. L
Arthur Everett Shipley, M.A., D.Sc, F.R.S. f
Master of Christ's College, Cambridge. Reader in Zoology, Cambridge University, 1 Mesozoa*
Joint-editor of the Cambridge Natural History. I
Alfert Frederick Pollard, M.A., F.R.Hist.S.
Professor of English History in the University of London. Fellow of All Souls'
College, Oxford. Assistant Editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, 1893-
1901. Lothian Prizeman (Oxford), 1892; Arnold Prizeman, 1898. Author of
England under the Protector Somerset; Henry VIII.; Life of Thomas Cranmer; &c.
Morton, John.
Rev. Alexander Gordon, M.A.
Lecturer on Church History in the University of Manchester.
i Millennium; Montanism.
\ Meshed.
(Menius; Mennonites;
Menno, Simons;
Morone.
Arthur George Doughty, M.A., Litt.D., C.M.G. f"
Dominion Archivist of Canada. Member of the Geographical Board of Canada. J „ . „
Author of The Cradle of New France; &c. Joint-editor of Documents relating to the\ "WCier, Honore.
Constitutional History of Canada. I
Adolf Harnack.
See the biographical article, Harnack, Adolf.
Sir A. Houtum-Schindler, CLE.
General in the Persian Army. Author of Eastern Persian Irak.
Rev. Alexander James Grieve, M.A., B.D. r
Professor of New Testament and Church History at the United Independent College, J . ,.
Bradford. Sometime Registrar of Madras University and Member of Mysore 1 Missions \m part).
Educational Service. (_
Andrew Jackson Lamoureux. f
Librarian, College of Agriculture, Cornell University. Formerly Editor of the -j Mexico: Geography.
Rio News, Rio de Janeiro. [
Andrew Lang. f m ...
See the biographical article, Lang, Andrew. ' MOUere.
Agnes Mary Clerke.
See the biographical article, Clerke, A. M.
{
Mouchez.
Alfred Newton, F.R.S.
See the biographical article, Newton, Alfred.
{Megapode; Merganser;
Mocking Bird;
Moor-Hen; Morillon;
Motmot; Mouse-Bird,
Adam Sedgwick, M.A., F.R.S. f
Professor of Zoology at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London. J «„*„„, „_v •„
Fellow, and formerly Tutor, of Trinity College, Cambridge. Professor of Zoology 1 «WiamorpnosiS.
in the University of Cambridge, 1907-1909.
Baron Alfred von Gutschmid.
See the biographical article, Gutschmid, Alfred, Baron von.
Arthur Waugh, M.A. r
New College, Oxford. Newdigate Prize, 1888. Author of Gordon in Africa; A Ifred, J m orr j s William
Lord Tennyson. Editor of Johnson's Lives of the Poets; editions of Dickens, Tenny- 1 '
son, Arnold, Lamb; &c. |_
1 A complete list, showing all individual contributors, appears in the final volume.
-I Moses of Chorene {in pari).
VI
B.J.
B. M.*
C.A.
C. B. W.*
C.E1.
INITIALS AND HEADINGS OF ARTICLES
Bernhard Julg (1825-1886).
f
Formerly Professor of Classical Philology in the University of Innsbruck. Author J Mongols: Language.
of Mongolische M archensammlung; t)ber Wesen und Aufgabe der Sprachwissenschaft; 5 • s s-
and On the Present Stale of Mongolian Researches. *■
Budgett Meakin (1866-1906). f
Formerly Editor of the Times of Morocco. Author of The Land of the Moors; The\ Morocco (in part),
Moorish Empire; Life in Morocco; &c. L
Cleveland Abbe, A.M., LL.D.
Professor of Meteorology, U.S. Weather Bureau, Washington. Director of the
Cincinnati Observatory, 1 863-1 873. Editor of Monthly Weather Review; and -j Meteorology.
Bulletin of Mount Weather Observatory. Author of Meteorological Apparatus and
Methods; &c.
Charles Bertie Wedd, F.G.S.
Joint-author of various memoirs and maps of the Geological Survey.
Millstone Grit; Miocene.
part);
c.
P. A.
c.
P.B.
c.
O.Ala.
c.
J. B.
c.
J.F„*
e.
J. L
Charles Creighton, M.A., M.D. [Monster (in
King's College, Cambridge. Author of A History of Epidemics in Britain; .Tenner -j Morgagni.
and Vaccination ; Plague in India ; &c. I L
Sir Charles Norton Edgcumbe Eliot, K.C.M.G., C.B., M.A., LL.D., D.CL.
Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield University. Formerly Fellow of Trinity College,
Oxford. H.M.'s Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief for the British East
Africa Protectorate; Agent and Consul-general at Zanzibar; and Consul-general
for German East Africa, 1900-1904.
Charles Francis Atkinson. f
Formerly Scholar of Queen's College, Oxford. Captain, 1st City of London (Royal \ ,.
Fusiliers). Author of The Wilderness and Cold Harbour. I \1n4part).
Charles Francis Bastable, M.A., LL.D. r
Regius Professor of Laws and Professor of Political Economy in the University 1 Monetary Conferences!
of Dublin. Author of Public Finance; Commerce of Nations; Theory of International ] Monev
Trade; &c. ' I
Mordvinians.
Medal: War Decoration,
{
Money-Lending.
Served through i Mohmand Campaign.
I Morelli.
C.Hi.
C. Mo.
C. PL
C. R. B.
C. R. W. B.
C. S. R.
C. We.
D. B. Ma.
D. F. T.
D.GI.
Chaloner Grenville Alabaster.
Barrister-at-Law, Inner Temple.
Charles Jasper Blunt, A.O.D.
Major, Royal Artillery. Chief Ordnance Officer, Singapore.
Chitral Campaign.
Constance Jocelyn Ffoulkes.
Translator of Morelli's Italian Painters; &c.
Sir Charles James Lyall, K.C.S.I., CLE., LL.D. (Edin.). r
Secretary, Judicial and Public Department, India Office. Fellow of King's College,
London. Secretary to Government of India in Home Department, 1889-1894,-1 MofaddallySt.
Chief Commissioner, Central Provinces, India, 1 895-1 808. Author of Translations
of Ancient Arabic Poetry; &c. L
Chedomille Mijatovich. r Michael Obremovicta III.;
Senator of the Kingdom of Servia. ^ Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo- -i MilOSB Obrenovich I
tentiary of the King of Servia to the Court of St James's, 1 895-1900, and 1902-1903.
William Cosmo Monkhouse.
See the biographical article, Monkhouse, William Cosmo.
Christian Pfister, D-es.-L. f"
Professor at the Sorbonne, Paris. Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Author -< Merovingians,
of Htudes sur le regne de Robert le Pieux. [_
Charles Raymond Beazley, M.A., D.Litt., F.R.G.S., F.R.Hist.S.
Professor of Modern History In the University of Birmingham. Formerly Fellow
of Merton College, Oxford, and University Lecturer in the History of Geography.
Lothian Prizeman, Oxford, 1889. Lowell Lecturer, Boston, 1908. Author of Henry
the Navigator ; The Dawn of Modern Geography ; &c.
C, R. W. Biggar, M.A., K.C
J Millais.
Mela, Pomponius
{in part);
Mercator;
Monte Corvino.
Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls, M.A., F.R.G.S. (1877-1910).
Trinity College, Cambridge. British Pioneer of Motoring and Aviation. Formerly -<
Managing Director of Rolls-Royce, Ltd.
Cecil Weatherly.
Formerly Scholar of Queen's College, Oxford. Barrister-at-Law.
Duncan Black Macdonald, M.A., D.D.
Professor of Semitic Languages, Hartford Theological Seminary, U.S.A. Author
of Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence and Constitutional Theory;'
Selections from Ibn Khaldun ; Religious A ttitude and Life in Islam ; &c.
Mowat, Sir 01iver„
Motor Vehicles:
Light Vehicles.
Monument.
Mufti.
Donald Francis Tovey.
Author of Essays in Musical Analysis: comprising The Classical Concerto,
Goldberg Variations, and analyses of many other classical works.
f Melody;
The J Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,
I (in part);
{ Motet; Mozart (in par().
Sir David Gill, K.C.B., LL.D., F.R.S., F.R.A.S., D.Sc.
H.M. Astronomer at Cape of Good Hope, 1879-1907. Served on Geodetic Survey
of Egypt, and on the expedition to Ascension Island to determine the Solar Parallax
by observations of Mars. Directed Geodetic Survey of Natal, Cape Colony, and
Rhodesia. Author of Geodetic Survey of South Africa; Catalogues of Stars for the
Equinoxes, 1830, i860, 1885, 1890, 1000; &c.
Micrometer.
INITIALS AND HEADINGS OF ARTICLES
vi i
D. G. H.
D. H.
D. LI. T.
D. Ma.
D. Mn.
D. N. P.
D. R.-M.
D. S. M.*
E. A. M.
E.
B.
T.
E.
C.
B.
E.
E.
A.
E.
F.
S.
D
E. Gr.
E. H. B.
E. H. M.
E. K.
Ed. M.
E. 0.*
E.Pr.
Mersina; Miletus.
Meloria; Mina.
David George Hogarth, M.A.
Keeper of the Ashraolean Museum, Oxford. Fellow of Magdalen College Oxford
Fellow of the British Academy. Excavated at Paphos, 1888; Naucratis 1890 and
1903; Ephesus, 1904-1905; Assiut, 1906-1907. Director, British School at Athens
1897-1900. Director, Cretan Exploration Fund, 1899.
David Hannay.
Formerly British Vice-Consul at Barcelona. Author of Short History of the Royal ■
Navy; Life of Emilio Castelar; &c.
Daniel Lleufer Thomas.
Barrister-at-Law, Lincoln's Inn.
Rhondda.
David Masson, LL.D.
See the biographical article, Masson, David.
Rev. Dugald Macfadyen, M.A.
Minister of South Grove Congregational Church, Highgate.
Congregational Ideals; &c.
Diarmid Noel Paton, M.D., F.R.C.P. (Edin.). r
Regius Professor of Physiology in the University of Glasgow. Formerly Super-
intendent of Research Laboratory of Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh. ^ Metabolic Diseases.
Biological Fellow of Edinburgh University, 1884. Author of Essentials of Human
Physiology; &c. ' I
David Randall-MacIver, M.A., D.Sc. r
Curator of Egyptian Department, University of Pennsylvania. Formerly Worcester J MonomotaDa
Reader in Egyptology, University of Oxford. Author of Medieval Rhodesia; &c. [
David Samuel Margoliouth, M.A., D.Litt. r
Laudian Professor of Arabic, Oxford. Fellow of New College. Author of Arabic
Papyri of the Bodleian Library; Mohammed and the Rise of Islam; Cairo, Jerusalem '
and Damascus. ,
Edward Alfred Minchin, M.A., F.Z.S., f
Professor of Protozoology in the University of London. Formerly Fellow of Merton \ Medusa.
Stipendiary Magistrate at Pontypridd and \ Merthyr Tydfil.
I Milton {in part).
Author of Constructive \ Melville, Andrew.
Meroe.
College, Oxford.
Edward Burnett Tylor, D.C.L., LL.D.
See the biographical article, Tylor, Edward Burnett.
Right Rev. Edward Cuthbert Butler, O.S.B., D.Litt.
Abbot of Downside Abbey, Bath. Author of " The Lausiac History of Palladius
in Cambridge Texts and Studies, vol. vi.
J" Mexico: Ancient History
\ {in part).
(Mendicant Movement
and Orders;
Monasticism;
Monte Cassino.
Ernest E. Austen. r
Assistant in Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, South Kensington, j Mosquito.
Lady Dilke. f >
See the biographical article, Dilke, Sir C. W., Bart. \ Millet, Jean Francois.
Ernest Arthur Gardner, M.A.
See the biographical article, Gardner, Percy.
Sir Edward Herbert Bunbury, Bart., M.A., F.R.G.S.(d. 1895).
M.P. for Bury St Edmunds, 1847-1852. Author of A History of Ancient Geography; ■
Ellis Hovell Minns, M.A.
University Lecturer in Palaeography, Cambridge. Lecturer and Assistant Librarian -
at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Formerly Fellow of Pembroke College.
Edmund Knecht, Ph.D., M.Sc.Tech. (Manchester), F.I.C.
Professor of Technological Chemistry, Manchester University. Head of Chemical
Department, Municipal School of Technology, Manchester. Examiner in Dyeing, -
City and Guilds of London Institute. Author of A Manual of Dyeing; See. Editor
of Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists.
Eduard Meyer, Ph.D., D.Litt. (Oxon.), LL.D.
Professor of Ancient History in the University of Berlin. Author of Geschichte
des Alterlhums; Geschichte des alien Aegyptens; Die Israeliten und ihre Nachbar-
stdmme.
Edmund Owen, M.B., F.R.C.S., LL.D., D.Sc.
Consulting Surgeon to St Mary's Hospital, London, and to the Children's Hospital,
Great Ormond Street, London. Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Late Examiner J
in Surgery at the Universities of Cambridge, London and Durham. Author of]
A Manual of Anatomy for Senior Students. [
Edgar Prestage.
Special Lecturer in Portuguese Literature in the University of Manchester. Examiner
in Portuguese in the Universities of London, Manchester, &c. Commendador, j
Portuguese Order of S. Thiago. Corresponding Member of Lisbon Royal Academy "
of Sciences, Lisbon Geographical Society ; &c. Editor of Letters of a Portuguese
Nun; Azurara's Chronicle of Guinea; &c.
' Megalopolis;
Megara Kin part);
Melos.
Mela, Pomponius
{in part).
Melanchlaeni.
Mercerizing.
Media;
Memnon of Rhodes;
Menander (Milinda)
{in part);
Mentor of Rhodes;
Mithradates.
Mortification;
Mouth and Salivary
Glands {Surgery).
Moraes.
viii
INITIALS AND HEADINGS OF ARTICLES
E. R. L.
E.St.
E, S. S.
F. C. C.
F. G. M. B.
F. G. P.
F. H. Ne.
F. J. H.
F. LI. G.
F.
N.
H.
F.
0.
B.
F.
We.
F.
W
.R.*
G.
A.
B.
G
C.
W.
G. E. D,
G.
F.B.
G.
G. S.
G.
H. Fo.
G.
P.R.
G.
Sa.
G
Sn.
Metamerism;
Molluscs (in part).
j Missions (in part).
[Motor Vehicles:
Heavy Commercial
Vehicles.
Moses of Chorene
(in part).
Mercia.
J Mouth and Salivary
1 Glands.
j Metallography (in part).
Sir Edwin Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S., M.A., D.Sc, LL.D.
Hon. Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. President of the British Association, 1906.
Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in University College. London,
1874-1890. Linacre Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Oxford, 1891-1898.
Director of the Natural History Departments of the British Museum, 1898-1907.
Vice-President of the Royal Society, 1896. Romanes Lecturer at Oxford, 1905.
Author of Degeneration; The Advancement of Science; The Kingdom of Man; &c.
Eugene Stock.
Formerly Editorial Secretary of the Church Missionary Society.
Edward Shrapnell Smith.
Editor of The Commercial Motor. Hon. Treasurer of the Commercial Motor Users -<
Association. Organiser of the Lancashire Heavy Motor Trials of 1898, 1 899-1 901.
Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare, M.A., D.Th. (Giessen).
Fellow of the British Academy. Formerly Fellow of University College, Oxford. .
Editor of The Ancient Armenian Texts of Aristotle. Author of Myth, Magic and
Morals; &c
Frederick George Meeson Beck, M.A.
Fellow and Lecturer of Clare College, Cambridge.
Frederick Gymer Parsons, F.R.CS., F.Z.S., F.R.Anthrop.Inst.
Vice-President, Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Lecturer on
Anatomy at St Thomas's Hospital and the London School of Medicine for Women,
London. Formerly Hunterian Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons.
Francis Henry Neville, M.A., F.R.S.
Fellow and Lecturer in Natural Science, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
Francis John Haverfield, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. r
Camden Professor of Ancient History in the University of Oxford. Fellow of J M na
Brasenose College. Fellow of the British Academy. Author of Monographs on 1
Roman History, especially Roman Britain; &c. L
Francis Llewellyn Griffith, M.A., Ph.D., F.S.A. r Memphis; Menes;
Reader in Egyptology, Oxford University. Editor of the Archaeological Survey] fli oe j.j s Lake of -
and Archaeological Reports of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Fellow of Imperial ] M ' '
German Archaeological Institute. I Mummy.
Colonel Frederic Natusch Maude, C.B.
Lecturer in Military History, Manchester University.
Policy; The Leipzig Campaign; The Jena Campaign.
Frederick Orpen Bower, M.A., D.Sc, F.R.S.
Regius Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow.
Botany for Beginners; &c.
Frederick Wedmore.
See the biographical article, Wedmore, Frederick.
Frederick William Rudler, I.S.O., F.G.S. C
Curator and Librarian of the Museum of Practical Geology, London, 1879-1902. ■< Moldavite.
President of the Geologists' Association, 1887-1889. I
George A. Boulenger. D.Sc, Ph.D., F.R.S. f
In charge of the collections of Reptiles and Fishes, Department of Zoology, British -I Mormyr.
Museum. Vice-President of the Zoological Society of London. |_
George Charles Williamson, Litt.D. r
Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Author of Portrait Miniatures; Life of Richard J Miniature;
Cosway, R.A . ; George Engleheart ; Portrait Drawings ; &c. Editor of new edition of 1 Morland, George.
Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. [
Surgeon-Major George Edward Dobson,M.A.,M.B.,F.Z.S., F.R.S. (1848-1895). f
Army Medical Department, 1 868-1 888. Formerly Curator of the Royal Victoria J Mole (in ■bartS
Museum, Netley. Author of Monograph of the Asiatic Chiroptera, &c; A Monograph 1 *
of the Insectivora, Systematic and Anatomical. I .
George F. Barwick. f
Assistant Keeper of Printed Books and Superintendent of Reading-room, British -! Midhat Pasha.
Museum. |_
George Gregory Smith, M.A. r
Professor of English Literature, Queen's University, Belfast. Author of The Days J Montgomerie.
of James IV. ; The Transition Period; Specimens of Middle Scots; &c. [
George Herbert Fowler, F.Z.S., F.L.S., Ph.D. r
Formerly Berkeley Research Fellow, Owens College, Manchester; and Assistant \ Microtomy.
Professor of Zoology at University College, London. [
Gerald Philip Robinson. r
President of the Society of Mezzotint Engravers. Mezzotint Engraver to Queen J Mezzotint.
Victoria and to King Edward VII. I
Author of War and the World's
Metz.
Author of Practical \ Mohl, Hugo von,
J Meryon.
George Saintsbury, LL.D., D.C.L.
See the biographical article, Saintsbury, G.
rMerimee; Michelet, Jules;
J Montaigne; Montesquieu;
[ Montpensier, Duchesse dft
Grant Showerman, A.M., Ph.D. f
Professor of Latin in the University of Wisconsin. Member of the Archaeological J jun+hrac
Institute of America. Member of American Philological Association. Author of |
With the Professor ; The Great Mollter of the Gods ; &c. L
G. W. T.
H. B. Wo.
H. Ch.
H.E.
H.Fr.
H. F. B.
H. F. G.
H. H. L.
H. L. H.
H. L. S.
H. H. S.
H. N. D.
H.O.
H.St
H.S.
J.
H.S.
M.
H.S.
W
H. T. A.
H. W. H.
H. W. C. D.
H. W. R.*
I. A.
I. A. C.
INITIALS AND HEADINGS OF ARTICLES
Rev. Griffithes Wheeler Thatcher, M.A., B.D f
Warden of Camden College Sydney, N.S.W. Formerly Tutor in Hebrew and Old ] Mubarrad.
Testament History at Mansfield College, Oxford. j_ ittuualrttu -
Horace Boongbroke Woodward, F.R.S., F.G.S f
PrJc?H rly . ^ ssi f ta ? t . director of the Geological Survey of England and Wales. ] MUler, Hugh.
President, Geologists' Association, 1893-1894. Wollaston Medallist, 1908. I 5
Hugh Chisholm M.A [Meredith, George;
„r lh?l y 7 1 ar J 9f Corpus Chnsti College, Oxford. Editor of the nth edition 4 Milan Obrenovitch IV •
of the Encyclopaedia Bntanmca. Co-editor of the loth edition. [ Morley Viseouilt
Karl Hermann Ethe, M.A., Ph.D. r
Professor of Oriental Languages, University College, Aberystwyth (University of J „. , . .
Wales). Author of Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library 1 Mirkhond
London (Clarendon Press) ; &c. •" y ' I
Henri Frantz.
Art Critic, Gazette des beaux arts, Paris.
Horatio Robert Forbes Brown, LL.D.
IX
■\ Meissonier.
Editor of the Calendar of Venetian Staie"Pap S rs, for the Public Record Office. Author J „ ' ,
ot Life on the Lagoons; Venetian Studies; John Addington Symonds, a Biography; 1 Milan (*» P<"~t).
Hans Friedrich Gadow, F.R.S., Ph.D.
Strickland Curator and Lecturer on Zoology in the University of Cambridge. Author
ot Amphibia and Reptiles," in the Cambridge Natural History.
Henry Harvey Littlejohn, M.A., M.B., CM., F.R.C.S. (Edin )
Professor of Forensic Medicine in the University of Edinburgh. '
Harriet L. Hennessy, M.D. (Brux.), L.R.C.P.I., L.R.C.S.I.
J Migration: Zoology;
[_Moa.
H. Lawrence Swinburne (d. .1907).
Henry Morse Stephens, M.A.
Balliol College, Oxford. Professor of History and Director of University Extension,
University of California. Author of History of the French Revolution; Modern'
European History ; &c.
Henry Newton Dickson, M.A., D.Sc, F.R.S. (Edin.), F.R.G S
Professor of Geography at University College, Reading. Formerly Vice-President
Royal Meteorological Society. Lecturer in Physical Geography, Oxford. Author'
of Meteorology; Elements of Weather and Climate; &c.
Hermann Oelsner, M.A., Ph.D.
Taylorian Professor of the Romance Languages in University of Oxford. Member
ofCouncil of the Philological Society. Author of A History of Provencal Literature;'
F.R.S. (Edin.) f Medical Jurisprudence
I (in part).
/"Medical Education, U.S.A.
I (in pari).
/Medal: War Decorations
X (in part).
Mirabeau, Honored
Mediterranean Sea;
Mexico, Gulf of.
Mistral.
Henry Sturt, M.A.
Author of Idola Theatri; The Idea of a Free Church; Personal Idealism
■I Mining.
4 Metempsychosis.
Henry Stuart Jones, M.A. r
Formerly Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, Oxford, and Director of the British ]„.,.,
School at Rome. Member of the German Imperial Archaeological Institute 1 Mosaic: Ancient (in part).
Author of The Roman Empire; &c. L
Henry Smith Munroe, D.Sc, Ph.D.
Professor of Mining, Columbia University, New York.
Henry Spenser Wilkinson, M.A.
rlliwt 16 P A r ^ f r SOr f °U!™i tal } r H «*»Y. University of Oxford. Fellow of All Souls' ■! Moltke, Count von.
College. Author of The Brain of an Army; &c. ]
Rev. Herbert Thomas Andrews. f
Professor of New Testament Exegesis, New College, London. Author of "The Mud™, c j. A
Commentary on Acts in the Westminster New Testament; Handbook on the] Mlssi0ns (*» W-
Apocryphal Books in the " Century " Bible. I
Hope W. Hogg, M.A. r
Professor of Semitic Languages and Literatures in the University of Manchester. \ Mes °P°tamia.
Henry William Carless Davis, M.A. r
isfHo^ T A U ,^h r n°/ ? a p Iiol i C f eg ^' °, x , {or ^- Fellow ^ f . An Souls ' Colle s e - 0xf ° r d. I Montfort, Simon de.
1895-1902. Author of England under the Normans and Angevins; Charlemagne. \
Rev. Henry Wheeler Robinson, M.A. r
Professor of Church History in Rawdon College, Leeds. Seniar Kennicott Scholar J „, ul - n
?■ Z A> I i < iJv^, utho J of ^Z™ Ps y ch °l°&y ^ Relation to Pauline Anthropology] m °* h (*« P art ^-
(in Mansfield College Essays) ; &c. I
Israel Abrahams, M.A.
Reader in Talmudic and Rabbinic Literature in the University of Cambridee
Formerly President, Jewish Historical Society of England. Author of A Sfor'r
History of Jewish Literature; Jewish Life in the Middle Ages; Judaism; &c.
Sir Joseph Archer Crowe, K..C.M.G.
See the biographical article, Crowe, Sir J. A.
Meir; Meir of Rothenburg;
Menasseh ben Israel;
Mendelssohn, Moses;
Mocatta; Molko.
S Memlinc (in part).
X
J. A. F.
J. A. S.
J. A. V.
J.Bt.
J. B. T.
J. D. B.
J. E. H.
J. F. K.
J. F. P.
J. G. H.
J. 6. R.
J. G. Sc.
J. H. F.
J. H. Je.
J. H. M.
INITIALS AND HEADINGS OF ARTICLES
J.
H.
B.
J.
HI
R.
J.
Le
J.
L.
W.
J.
M.
Bu
J. M. M.
Jno. S.
John Ambrose Fleming, M.A., F.R.S., D.Sc.
Pender Professor of Electrical Engineering in the University of London. Fellow
of University College, London. Formerly Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge,
and Lecturer on Applied Mechanics in the University. Author of Magnets and
Electric Currents.
John Addington Symonds, LL.D.
See the biographical article, Symonds, John Addington.
Rev. J. A. Vanes.
. Professor of New Testament Exegesis, Wesleyan College, Richmond.
James Bartlett.
Meter, Electric.
j Metastasis
-! Methodism {in part).
Lecturer on Construction, Architecture, Sanitation, Quantities, &c, at King's College, J „ ,
London. Member of Society of Architects. Member of Institute of Junior) "^OTia.!.
Engineers.
Sir John Batty Tuke, M.D., F.R.S. (Edin.), D.Sc, LL.D. . f
President of the Neurological Society of the United Kingdom. Medical Director J Medical Education.
of New Saughton Hall Asylum, Edinburgh. M. P. for the Universities of Edinburgh |
and St Andrews, 1900-1910. t
James David Bourchier, M.A., F.R.G.S. f
King's College, Cambridge. Correspondent of The Times in South-Eastern Europe. J Montenegro.
Commander of the Orders of Prince Danilo of Montenegro and of the Saviour of
Greece, and Officer of the Order of St Alexander of Bulgaria. *-
Rev. Joseph Edmund Hutton, M.A. J* Moravian Brethren.
Author of History of the Moravian Church. \
James Furman Kemp, D.Sc. f
Professor of Geology, Columbia University, New York. Geologist to United States i Mineral Deposits,
and New York Geological Surveys. Author of Handbook of Rocks ; £Tc. I
Joseph Frank Payne, M.A., M.D., F.R;C.P.(i84o-ioio). f
Formerly Harveian Librarian, Royal College of Physicians, London. Hon. Fellow J m .jj„.. A . rr- , /• ., ,\
of Magdalen College, Oxford. Fellow of the University of London. Author of] Medicine. History (m part).
Lectures on Anglo-Saxon Medicine; &c. L
Joseph G. Horner, A.M.I.Mech.E.
Author of Plating and Boiler Making; Practical Metal Turning; &c.
John George Robertson, M.A., Ph.D.
Professor of German at the University of London. Formerly Lecturer on the
English Language, Strassburg University. Author of History of German Literature;
&c.
\ Metal-Work: Industrial.
\ Meistersinger.
Sir James George Scott, K.C.I.E.
Superintendent and Political Officer,
The Upper Burma Gazetteer.
Southern Shan States. Author of Burma; \ Mekong; Minbu.
John Henry Freese, M.A.
Formerly Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge.
f Menander;
-i Mirror: Ancient;
[ Moesia.
James Hopwood Jeans, M.A., F.R.S. C
Stokes Lecturer in the University of Cambridge. Formerly Fellow of Trinity < Molecule.
College. Author of Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism ; &c. ^
John Henry Middleton, M.A., Litt.D., F.S.A., D.C.L. (1846-1896).
Slade Professor of Fine Art in the University of Cambridge, 1 886-1895. Director
of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1889-1892. Art Director of the South
Kensington Museum, 1 892-1 896. Author of The Engraved Gems of Classical Times;
Illuminated Manuscripts in Classical and Mediaeval Times.
Art
Metal-Work:
(in part);
Monreale;
Mosaic: Ancient {in part).
John Horace Round, M.A., LL.D. fMortain;
Author of Feudal England; Studies in Peerage and Family History; Peerage and\ M 0W nrav Familv
John Holland Rose, M.A. , Litt.D. r
Lecturer on Modern History to the Cambridge University Local Lectures Syndicate. J Mollien, Count;
Author of Life of Napoleon I. ; Napoleonic Studies ; The Development of the European ] Montholon, Marquis de.
Nations ; The Life of Pitt ; &c. I
Rev. James Legge, D.D.
See the biographical article, Legge, James. .
Jessie Latdlay Weston.
Author of Arthurian Romances unrepresented in Malory.
{
Mencius.
J Merlin.
Rev. James Monroe Buckley, D.D., LL.D.
Editor of the Christian Advocate, New York.
the United States ; &c. "
Author of History of Methodism in -j Methodism:
United States.
John Malcolm Mitchell.
Sometime Scholar of Queen's College, Oxford. Lecturer in Classics, East London
College (University of London). Joint-editor of Grote's History of Greece.
Mill, John Stuart
{in pari);
Miltiades; Mnemonics.
Sir John Scott, K.C.M.G., M.A., D.C.L. f
Formerly Deputy Judge-Advocate-General to His Majesty's Forces. Judge, jur-yt t am
afterwards Vice-President, International Court of Appeal in Egypt. 1874-1882. 1 MlUiary Law.
Judge of High Court, Bombay, 1882-1890. Judicial Adviser to the Khedive of
Egypt, 1890-1898. Vice-President, International Law Association. (_
INITIALS AND HEADINGS OF ARTICLES
xi
J. S. BI.
J. S. F.
J. S. G.
J. S. Ma.
J. T. Be.
J. T. C.
J. T. S.*
K. A. M.*
K. S.
L.B1.
L. Bo.
L.P.
I. J. S.
H. H. C.
H. H. S.
M. N. T.
M. 0. B. C
M.P.
M. W. T.
O.Ba.
0. C. W.
John Sutherland Black, M.A., LL.D.
Assistant Editor, 9th edition, Encyclopaedia
Encyclopaedia Biblica.
Britannica. Joint-editor of
,f.
theH Missal.
John Smith Flett, D.Sc, F.G.S.
Petrographer to the Geological Survey. Formerly Lecturer on Petrology in
Edinburgh University. Neill Medallist of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Bigsby
Medallist of the Geological Society of London.
Metamorphism;
Metasomatism;
Mica-Schist;
Micropegmatite;
Monzonite.
John Starkie Gardner, F.S.A. [„ . . *„„„,,. tr A .,.
Expert Metal Worker. Authorof Armour in England; Ironwork (for the Educationall me«""W0rK. Modern Art.
Department) ; &c. <-
Professor of Greek atl Mexico: Modern History.
Merv; Minsk(«i part);
Moscow(i« part).
James Saumarez Mann, M.A.
Formerly Fellow and Lecturer of Trinity College, Oxford.
Bedford College, London. Joint-editor of Social England.
John Thomas Bealby.
Joint-author of Stanford's Europe. Formerly Editor of the Scottish Geographical -
Magazine. Translator of Sven Hedin's Through Asia, Central Asia and Tibet; &c.
Joseph Thomas Cunningham, M.A., F.Z.S. \ ik n c f\
Lecturer on Zoology at the South- Western Polytechnic, London. Formerly Fellow J Mollusea (*» part);
of University College, Oxford. Assistant Professor of Natural History in the J Mullet.
University of Edinburgh. Naturalist to the Marine Biological Association. . *■
James Thomson Shotwell, Ph.D.
Professor of History in Columbia University, New York City.
Kate A. Meakin (Mrs Budgett Meakin).
Kathleen Schlesinger. J
Editor of the Portfolio of Musical Archaeology. Author of The Instruments of the\ Monochord; Mouthpiece.
Orchestra. L
Louis Bell, Ph.D. f
Consulting Engineer, Boston, U.S.A. Chief Engineer, Electric Power Transmission .
:. Department, General Electric Co., Boston. Formerly Editor of Electrical World,
New York. Author of Electric Power Transmission; &c. *-
LUDWIG BOLTZMANN (1844-1906). f
Formerly Professor of Theoretical Physics, Universities of Munich, Vienna and J Model.
Leipzig. Author of Lectures on the Theory of Gas; Lectures on Maxwell's Theory
of Electricity and Light. "-
Lazarus Fletcher, M.A., F.R.S.
Director of Natural History Departments of the British Museum. Keeper of
Minerals, British Museum, 1880-1909. Secretary to the Mineralogical Society. i Meteorite.
Formerly Fellow of University College, Oxford. Author of Introduction to the Study
of Meteorites ; &c.
\ Middle Ages.
Morocco {in part).
Motors, Electric.
Leonard James Spencer, M.A.
Assistant in Department of Mineralogy, British Museum.
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and Harkness Scholar.
Icgical Magazine.
Formerly Scholar of .
Editor of the Minera-
Melaconite; Mica;
Microcline; Miller ite;
Mimetite; Mineralogy;
Mispickel; Molybdenite;
I Monazite.
Montague Hughes Crackanthorpe, M.A., D.C.L., K.C.
Honorary Fellow, St John's College, Oxford. Bencher of Lincoln's Inn. Formerly
Member of the General Council of the Bar and of the Council of Legal Education,
and Standing Counsel to the University of Oxford. President of the Eugenics
Education Society.
Marion H. Spielmann, F.S.A.
Formerly Editor of the Magazine of Art. Member of Fine Art Committee of
International Exhibitions of Brussels, Paris, Buenos Aires, Rome, and the Franco-
British Exhibition, London. Author of History of "Punch"; British Portrait
Painting to the opening of the Nineteenth Century; Works of G. F. Watts, R.A.; British
Sculpture and Sculptors of To-Day ; Henriette Ronner ; &c.
Marcus Niebuhr Tod, M.A. f
Fellow and Tutor of Oriel College, Oxford. University Lecturer in Epigraphy.^ Messene; Messenia*
Joint-author of Catalogue of the Sparta Museum. \_
Maximilian Otto Bismarck Caspari, M.A. (
Reader in Ancient History at London University. Lecturer in Greek at Birming- -J Megara {in part).
ham University, 1905-1908. [
Mediation.
Medal {in part).
Rev. Mark Pattison.
See the biographical article, Pattison, Mark.
More, Sir Thomas.
Northcote Whitridge Thomas, M.A. ' ("
Government Anthropologist to Southern Nigeria. Corresponding Member of the J Medium.
Soci6t6d'Anthropologie de Paris. Author of Thought Transference; Kinship and \
Marriage in A ustralia ; &c. I
Oswald Barron, F.S.A. f Montagu (Family)
Editor of The Ancestor, 1902-1905. Hon. Genealogist to Standing Council of the-' •
Honourable Society of the Baronetage.
Owen Charles Whitehouse, M.A., D.D.
Theological Tutor and Lecturer in Hebrew, Cheshunt College, Cambridge.
' [ Mortimer {Family).
i Messiah {in part).
Xll
0. Hr.
P. A. K.
P. C. M.
P. Ge.
P. G. K.
P. La.
P. V.
R. A S. M.
R. C. P.
R. H. C.
R. I. P.
R. K. D.
R. L.*
R. M.-S.
R. N- B.
R. P. S.
R. S C.
S. A. C.
INITIALS AND HEADINGS OF ARTICLES
Otto Henker, Ph.D.
On the Staff of the Carl Zeiss Factory, Jena, Germany.
Prince Peter Alexeivitch Kropotkin.
See the biographical article, Kropotkin, Prince P. A.
Peter Chalmers Mitchell, M.A., F.R.S., F.Z.S., D.Sc, LL.D.
Secretary to the Zoological Society of London. University Demonstrator
Comparative Anatomy and Assistant to Linacre Professor at Oxford, 1888-181
Author of Outlines of Biology ; &c.
\ Microscope.
/Minsk (in part);
I Mongolia; Moscow.
Monster (in part);
Morphology (in part).
Patrick Geddes, F.R.S. (Edin.). r
Professor of Botany, University College, Dundee. Formerly Lecturer on Natural J Moipholoev (in ■bart)
History in School of Medicine, Edinburgh. Part-author of Evolution of Sex. 1 "
Author of Chapters in Modern Botany. V
Paul George Konody.
Art Critic of the Observer and the Daily Mail. Formerly Editor of The Artist.
Author of The Art of Walter Crane; Velasquez, Life and Work; &c.
Philip Lake, M.A., F.G.S.
Memlinc (in part).
Lecturer on Physical and Regional Geography in Cambridge University. Formerly J wr OY j,, n . r„ 1
of the Geological Survey of India. Author of Monograph of British Cambrian 1 raeA1LU - wowgy.
Trilobites. Translator and Editor of Keyser's Comparative Geology. I
i Medici (Family).
Pasquale Villari.
See the biographical article, Villari, Pasquale.
Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister, M.A., F.S.A.
St John's College, Cambridge,
tion Fund.
Director of Excavations for the Palestine Explora-
J Michmash; Mizpah;
1 Moriah.
Reginald Crundall Punnett, M.A.
Professor of Biology in the University of Cambridge.
College. Superintendent of the Museum of Zoology.
Fellow of Gonville and Caius -j Mendelism.
Rev. Robert Henry Charles, M.A., D.D., D.Litt. ("
Grinfield Lecturer, and Lecturer in Biblical Studies, Oxford. Fellow of the British J Moses Assumotion of
Academy. Formerly Professor of Biblical Greek, Trinity College, Dublin. Author 1 ' '
of Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life ; Book of Jubilees ; &c. I
f Millipede; Mimicry;
I Mite.
Mongols.
Reginald Innes Pocock, F.Z.S.
Superintendent of the Zoological Gardens, London.
Sir Robert Kennaway Douglas.
Formerly Keeper of Oriental Printed Books and MSS. at the British Museum; and
Professor of Chinese, King's College, London. Author of The Language and'
Literature of China; &c. L
Richard Lydekker, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S. f Megatherium; Mole (in
Member of the Staff of the Geological Survey of India, 1874-1882. Author of J Monodelphia;
Catalogues of Fossil Mammals, Reptiles and Birds in British Museum; The Deer of\ Monotremata; Mouse;
All Lands; The Game Animals of Africa; &c. [ Multituberculata.
Richmond Mayo-Smith, Ph.D.
See the biographical article, Mayo-Smith, Richmond.
■I Migration (in part).
Robert Nisbet Bain (d. 1909).
Assistant Librarian, British Museum, 1883-1909. Author of Scandinavia, the
Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, 1513-1900; The First Romanovs, ,
1613-1725; Slavonic Europe, the Political History of Poland and Russia from 1460
to 1796; &c.
R. Phene Spiers, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.
Formerly Master of the Architectural School, Royal Academy, London. Past
President of Architectural Association. Associate and Fellow of King's College, ■
London. Corresponding Member of the Institute of France. Editor of Fergusson's
History of Architecture. Author of Architecture: East and West; &c.
Robert Seymour Conway, M.A., D.Litt. (Cantab.).
Professor of Latin and Indo-European Philology in the University of Manchester.
Formerly Professor of Latin in University College, Cardiff; and Fellow of Gonville"
and Caius College, Cambridge. Author of The Italic Dialects.
Stanley Arthur Cook, M.A. _
Lecturer in flebrew and Syriac, and formerly Fellow, Gonville and Caius College,
Cambridge. Editor for the Palestine Exploration Fund. Examiner in Hebrew
and Aramaic, London University, 1904-1908. Council of Royal Asiatic Society, -
1 904-1905. Author of Glossary of Aramaic Inscriptions; The Law of Moses and the
Code of Hammurabi; Critical Notes on Old Testament History; Religion of Ancient
Palestine; &c.
f Menshikov;
Michael, Tsar;
Moltke, Count A.
Moltke, Count A.
G.;
W.
Mosque; Mouldings.
Messapii.
Melchizedek (in part);
Menahem; Midrash;
Mizraim; Moab;
Moloch (in part);
Moses.
S. C.
St. C.
S.N.
Sidney Colvin, LL.D.
See the biographical article, Colvin, Sidney.
Viscount St. Cyres.
See the biographical article, Iddesleigh, ist Earl of.
Simon Newcomb, D.Sc, LL.D.
See the biographical article, Newcomb, Simon.
-j Michelangelo.
{
Molinos.
-j Mercury; Moon.
INITIALS AND HEADINGS OF ARTICLES
xm
J. As.
T. A, L
T. Ca.
T. C. A.
T. H. H.*
T« 1\. K.
Th.N.
T. S. W.
T. W. R„ »
W. A. B. C,
W. A. P.
W. B. Ri.
». B. S.*
W. C. R.-A
W. F. C.
W. F. D.
W. F. Sh.
W. H. F.
ff. H. H.
W. H. M.
W.JL*
Thomas Ashby, M.A., D.Litt. (Oxon.).
Director of British School of Archaeology at Rome. Formerly Scholar of Christ
Church, Oxford. Craven Fellow, 1897. Conington Prizeman, 1906. Member
of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute. Author of The Classical
Topography of the Roman Campagna.
Thomas Allan Ingram, M.A., LL.D.
Trinity College. Dublin.
Thomas Case, M.A.
President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Formerly Waynflete Professor of
Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy in the University of Oxford, and Fellow of "
Magdalen College.
Sir Thomas Clifford Allbutt, K.C.B., M.A., M.D., D.Sc, LL.D., F.R.S.
Regius Professor of Physic in the University of Cambridge. Physician to Adden- .
brooke's Hospital, Cambridge. Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
Editor of Systems of Medicine.
Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich, K.C.M.G., K.C.I.E., D.Sc.
Superintendent Frontier Surveys, India, 1892-1898, Gold Medallist, R.G.S. .
(London), 1887. Author of The Indian Borderland; The Countries of the King's
Award; India; Tibet; &c. L
Thomas Kirke Rose, D.Sc. f"
Chemist and Assay er, The Royal Mint, London. Author of Metallurgy of Gold; The i Mint.
Precious Metals; &c. \_
Mediolanum;
Megara Hyblaea;
Messina; Metapontum;
Milan (in part);
Minturnae; Misenum;
Monreale(£« pari);
Monteleone Cal&bro;
Motya; Monument: Italy.
Medical Jurisprudence
{in part);
Midwife;
Migration (in part).
Metaphysics.
Medicine: Modern
Progress.
Mohmand.
{
Mo'allakSt
Theodor Noldeke, Ph.D.
See the biographical article, Noldeke, Theodor.
Theodore Salisbury Woolsey, LL.D. _ r
Professor of International Law, Yale University. Editor of Woolsey's International J Monroe Doctrine.
Law. Author of America's Foreign Policy; &c. [
Thomas William Rhys Davids, LL.D.,, Ph.D.
Professor of Comparative Religion, Manchester University. President of the Pali
Text Society. Fellow of the British Academy. Secretary and Librarian of Royal
Asiatic Society, 1885-1902. Author of Buddhism; Sacred Books of the Buddhists;
Early Buddhism; Buddhist India; Dialogues of the Buddha; &c.
Rev. William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge, M.A., F.R.G.S., Ph.D. (Bern).
Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Professor of English History, St David's
College, Lampeter, 1880-1881. Author of Guide du Haut DauphinS; The Range
of the Todi; Guide to Grindelwald; Guide to Switzerland; The Alps in Nature and in
History; &c. Editor of The Alpine Journal, 1880-1881 ; &c.
Walter Alison Phillips, M.A.
Formerly Exhibitioner of Merton College and Senior Scholar of St John's College,
Oxford. Author of Modern Europe ; &c.
Sir William Blake Richmond, K.C.B.
See the biographical article, Richmond, Sir William Blake.
William Barclay Squire, M.A.
Assistant in Charge of Printed Music, British Museum.
Sir William Chandler Roberts-Austen, K.C.B. , D.C.L., F.R.S.
See the biographical article, Roberts-Austen, Sir W. C.
William Feilden Craies, M.A.
Barrister-at-Law, Inner Temple. Lecturer on Criminal Law, King's College, London.
Editor of Archbold's Criminal Pleading (23rd edition).
William Frederick Denning, F.R.A.S.
Gold Medallist, R.A.S. President, Liverpool Astronomical Society, 1877-1878.
Author of Telescopic Work for Starlight Evenings; The Great Meteoric Shower; &c.
William Fleetwood Sheppard, M.A.
Senior Examiner in the Board of Education. Formerly Fellow of Trinity College,
Cambridge. Senior Wrangler, 1884.
Sir William Henry Flower, F.R.S.
See the biographical article, Flower, Sir W. H.
William Henry Howell, M.D., Ph.D., LL.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty and Professor of Physiology, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore. President of the American Physiological Association. Associate-editor
of American Journal of Physiology.
William Herrick Macaulay, M.A.
Fellow and Tutor of King's College, Cambridge.
Walter Lehmann, D.M.
Directorial Assistant, Royal Ethnographical Museum, Munich. Author of Methods
and Results in Mexican Research; &c.
Medhankara;
Menander (Milinda).
Meiringen; Meran;
Merian; Mont Cenis;
Morat;
Mttller, Johannes von.
Mehemet Ali;
Mephistopheles;
Metternich; Minister;
Mitre.
-I Mosaic: Modern.
Morley, Thomas.
J Metallography (in part).
Misdemeanour.
Meteor.
{
4 Mensuration.
Mink.
{
J Medical Education, UJS A
1 (in part).
/Motion, Laws of.
Mexico: Ancient History
(in part).
XIV
w.
M.
w.
M.
C.
w.
M.
S.
w.
P.
A.
w.
R.
M.
W. R. S.
W. R. S.*
W. S. R.
INITIALS AND . HEADINGS OF ARTICLES
William Minto, LL.D.
See the biographical article, Minto, William.
Sir W. Martin Conway.
See the biographical article, Conway, Sir W. M.
f Mill, John Stuart
1 (in pari).
< Mountaineering.
William Michael Rossetti. f Moroni.
See the biographical article, Rossetti, Dante, G. \
LlEUT.-COLONEL WlLLIAM PATRICK ANDERSON, M.lNST.C.E., F.R.G.S. [
Chief Engineer, Department of Marine and Fisheries of Canada. Member of the -1 Michigan, Lake.
Geographic Board of Canada. Past President of Canadian Society' of Civil Engineers. [
William Richard Morftll, M.A. (d. 1910). r
Formerly Professor of Russian and the other Slavonic Languages in the University J Miolrioiuini jj am
of Oxford. Curator of the Taylorian Institution Oxford. Author of Russia; 1 lmcKlewlcz > Adam.
Slavonic Literature ; &c. t
William Robertson Smith, LL.D.
See the biographical article, Smith, William Robertson.
William Roy Smith, M.A., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania.
Sectionalism in Pennsylvania during the Revolution ; &c.
Medina;
Melchizedek (in part) ;
Messiah (in part);
Micah (in part);
.Moloch (in part).
Author oH Missouri Compromise.
William Smyth Rockstro. f Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Author of A General History of Music from the Infancy of the Greek Drama to the J. U n part) •
I Mozart (in part).
Present Period; and other works on the history of music.
PRINCIPAL UNSIGNED ARTICLES
Melbourne.
Melon.
Meningitis.
Mercantile System.
Mercury (Chemistry).
Mermaids.
Metal.
Metallurgy.
Michigan.
Micronesia.
Militia.
Milk.
Mineral Waters.
Ministry.
Minnesingers.
Minnesota.
Mississippi.
Mississippi River.
Missouri.
Monaco.
Monmouthshire.
Monopoly.
Montana.
Moors.
Moravia.
Mormons.
Morphine.
Mortgage.
Mounted Infantry.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME XVIII
MEDAL (Fr. mtdaille, from Lat. metallum), strictly the
term given to a memorial piece, originally of metal, and
generally in the shape of a coin, used however not as currency
but as an artistic product. " Medallion " is a similar term
for a large medal, but is now usually restricted to a form of
bas-relief in sculpture. The term " medal " is, artistically,
extended by analogy to pieces of the same character not neces-
sarily shaped like coins. The history of coins and medals
is inseparable, and is treated under the general heading of
Numismatics. That article may be supplemented here by an
account of (i) the more recent progress in the art of the medallist,
and (2) the use of medals for war decorations. '
1. The medal — as it is understood to-day — enjoys a life
entirely independent of the coin on the one hand, and, on the
other, of the sculptured medallion, or bas-relief; and its' renais-
sance is one of the chief phenomena in art during the period
since about 1870. It is in France that it has risen to the greatest
perfection. Its popularity there is well-nigh universal; it is
esteemed not only for memorials of popular events and of
public men, but also for private celebrations of all kinds. No
other nation approaches in excellence — in artistic feeling*
treatment, and sensitiveness of execution — the artists and the
achievements of France. In England, although the Royal
Academy seeks to encourage its students to practise the art,
the prize it offers commonly induces no competition. The
art of the medallist is not properly appreciated or understood,
and receives little or no support. The prevailing notion
concerning it is that it consists in stamping cheap tokens out of
white metal or bronze, on which a design, more or less vulgar,
stands out in frosty relief from a dazzling, glittering background.
These works, even the majority of military and civic medals,
demonstrate how the exquisite art of the Renaissance had been
degraded in England — almost without protest or even recognition
— so that they are, to a work of Roty or Chaplain, what a
nameless daub would be to a picture by Rembrandt or Velasquez.
It is probable that Jacques Wiener (d. 1899), of Belgium,
was the last of the medallists of note who habitually cut his
steel dies entirely with his own hand without assistance, though
others in some measure do so still. Although most modern
workers, exclusively medallists, have themselves cut dies,
they now take advantage of the newest methods; and the
graveur en midailles has become simply a midailleur. His
knowledge of effect is the same — though the effect sought is
different: in earlier times the artist thought chiefly of his
shadows; now he mainly regards his planes. Otherwise his
aims are not dissimilar. At the present day the medallist,
after making conscientious studies from life (as if he were about
to paint a picture), commonly works out his design in wax,
or similar substance, upon a disk of plaster about 12 or 14 inches
xvta. 1
in diameter. From that advanced model a simple mould,
or matrix, is made, and a plaster cast is taken, whereupon the
artist can complete his work in the utmost perfection. Then,
if a struck medal is required, a steel cast is made, and from
that a reduction to the size required for the final work is pro-
duced by means of the machine — the tour a riduire. It is this
machine which has made possible the modern revival, and has
revolutionized the taste of designers and public alike. It
was invented by Gontamin, who based it upon that tour a
portrait which Houlot produced in 1766, and which helped
to fame several engravers now celebrated. This machine was
first exhibited in Paris in 1839, and was sold to the Munich
Mint; while a similar invention, devised at the same time by
the English engraver Hill, was acquired by Wyon for £2000,
and was ultimately disposed of to a private mint in Paris. From
that city comes the machine, based by the French inventor
M. Ledru upon the two already referred to, now in use at the
Royal Mint in London. A well-served medallist, therefore,
need trouble himself nowadays about little beyond the primary
modelling and the final result, correcting with his own hand
only the slightest touches — refining, perfecting — but sometimes
merely confining himself to giving his directions to the profes-
sional engraver. 1
The great majority of the artistic medals at present in the
world (in the great, collection of France there is a total of not
fewer than 200,000 medals) are cast, not struck. There is in
them a charm of surface, of patina, of the metal itself, which
the struck medal, with all the added beauties which it allows
of delicate finish and exquisite detail, can hardly give. But
the production of the cast medal is much slower, much more
uncertain, and the number of fine copies that can be produced
is infinitely smaller. All the early medals were cast, being first
modelled in wax, and then cast by the cire perdue (waste wax)
1 The method of preparing the dies, &c, is the same for medals
as for coins, save that for larger and heavier work more strokes are
required, as in the case of L. Coudray's popular " Orphee " — rather a
sculpture-relief than a medal. The dies are capable of a great yield
before becoming quite worn-out ; it is said that no fewer than three
million Copies were struck of Professor J. Tautenhayn's Austrian
jubilee medal of the Emperor Francis Joseph. In France, Thonelier's
perfected machine, substituting the lever for the screw, has been in
use for coins since 1844; but for the striking of medals the same old-
fashioned screw-press is retained which had till then been employed
both for coins and medals since the time of Louis XIV. In its present
form the machine consists of an iron or bronze frame, of which the
upper part is fitted with a hollow screw wherein works an inner screw.
This screw, moved by steam or electricity, drives the dies, set in iron
collars, so that they strike the blank placed between them. This
machine can deliver a strong blow to produce a high relief, or a delicate
touch tb add the finest finish. In the Paris Mint large medals can
be struck with comparative ease and rapidity. A hydraulic press
of nearly two million pounds pressure is utilized for testing the dies
II
MEDAL
process, and were usually worked over by the chaser afterwards;
indeed, it was not until the beginning of the 16th century
that dies, hitherto used only for coins executed in low relief,
were employed for larger and bolder work. The medallists
of those days always cast in bronze or lead, and only proceeded to
use silver and gold as a luxurious taste began to demand the
more precious metals. There is little doubt that the material
to be preferred is dull silver ( mat or sable — sand-blasted),
as the work, with all its variations of light and Shade, can be
better seen in the delicate grey of the surface.
The medal, properly considered, is not sculpture. Vasari
was happy in his definition when he described the medallic
art as the link between sculpture and painting — that is to say,
painting in the round with the colour left out. Less severe
than sculpture, it need not be less dignified; it is bound down
by the conventions of low relief, and by compulsions of com-
position and design, dependent on shape, from which sculpture,
even when the relief is the lowest, is in a great measure free.'
In the medal, otherwise than in sculpture, elaborate perspective
and receding planes are not out of place. The genius of the
modern Frenchman rebelled against the rule that commonly
governed the medal during the decadence, and has triumphed
in his revolt, justifying the practice by his success. The modern
medal and the plaquette aim at being decorative yet vigorous,
reticent and dignified, delicate and tender, graceful and pure;
it may be, and often is, all these in turn. Imagination, fancy,
symbolism, may always be brought into play, allied to a sense
of form and colour, of arrangement and execution. By the
demonstration of these qualities the artist is to be differentiated
from the skilful, mechanical die-sinker, who spreads over the
art the blight of his heavy and insensitive hand and brain.
So with portraiture. Accurate likeness of feature as well as
character and expression are now to be found in all fine works,
such as are seized only by an artist of keenly sensitive tempera-
ment. It is thus that he casts the events and the actions of
to-day into metallic history, beautifully seen and exquisitely
recorded; thus that the figure on the medal is no longer a mere
sculpturesque symbol, but a thing of flesh and blood, suave
and graceful in composition, and as pleasing in its purely decora-
tive design as imagination can inspire or, example suggest.
It is thus that the art, while offering easy means of permanent
memorial, has afforded to men of restricted means the eagerly
seized opportunity of forming small collections of masterpieces
of art at a small outlay.
France. — In France the example of Oudine\ coming after that
of David d' Angers, did much to revolutionize the spirit animating
the modern medallist, but Chapu, by his essentially modern treat-
ment, did more. To Ponscarme (pupil of Oudine) is chiefly due
the idea of rendering mat the ground as well as the subject on the
medal, the suppression of the raised rim, and the abandonment of
the typographic lettering hitherto in vogue, together with the
mechanical regularity of its arrangement. Degeorge, with his
semi-pictorial treatment, was followed by Daniel Dupuis, whose
delicate and playful fancy, almost entirely pictorial, makes us forget
alike the material and the die. J. C. Chaplain is unsurpassed as a
modeller of noble heads, including those of four presidents of the
French Republic — Macmahon, Casimir-Perier, Faure and Loubet —
and his allegorical designs are finely imagined and admirably worked
out (see Plate) ; but L. Oscar Roty (pupil of Ponscarme) is at the
head of the whole modern school, not only by virtue of absolute
mastery of the technique of his art, but also of his originality of
arrangement, of the poetic charm of his symbolism and his allegories,
the delicate fancy, the exquisite touch, the chasteness and purity
of taste — wedding a modern sentiment to an obvious feeling for the
Greek. Though expressly less virile than Chaplain, Roty is never
effeminate. To Roty belongs the credit of having first revived the
form of the plaquette, or rectangular medal, which had been aban-
doned and forgotten along with many other traditions of the Renais-
sance (see Plate). Alphee Dubois, Lagrange, and Borrel must
be mentioned among those who are understood to engrave their own
dies. Followers are to be found in Mouchon, Lechevrel, Vernon,
Henri Dubois, Patey, Bottee (see Plate) — all sterling artists if not
innovators. Medallists of more striking originality but less finish,
and of far less elegance are Michel Cazin, Levillain (who loves as
much as Bandinelli to make over-display of his knowledge of
muscular anatomy), Charpentier, and their school, who aim at a
manner which makes less demand of highly educated artistry such
as that of Roty or of Chaplain. It is learned and accomplished in
its way, but lumpy in its result; breadth is gained, but refinement
and distinction are in a great measure lost. It may be added — to
give some idea of the industry of the modern medallist, and the
encouragement accorded to him — that between 1879 and 1900
M. Roty executed more than 150 pieces, each having an obverse
and a reverse.
Austria. — The two leading medallists of the Austrian school are
Josef Tautenhayn (see Plate) and Anton Scharff, both highly
accomplished, yet neither displaying the highest qualities of taste,
ability and " keeping," which distinguishes the French masters.
About 330 pieces have come from the hand,of Anton Scharff, Stefan
Schwartz, Franz Pawlik, Staniek, Marschall and J. Tautenhayn,
junior, are the only other artists who have risen to eminence.
Germany. — A characteristically florid style is here cultivated,
such as lends itself to the elaborate treatment of costume, armorial
bearings, and the like; but delicacy, distinction, and the highest
excellence in modelling and draughtsmanship — qualities which should
accompany even the most vigorous or elaborate designs — are lack-
ing in a great degree. Professors Hildebrand and Kowarzik have
wrought some of the most artistic works there produced.
Belgium. — Although sculpture so greatly flourishes in Belgium,
medal work shows little promise of rivalling that of France. The
influence of the three brothers Wiener (Jacques, Leopold and Charles)
— good medallists of the old school — has not yet been shaken off.
The remarkable architectural series by the first-named, and the
coinage of the second, have little affinity with the spirit of the modern
medal. Lemaire has perhaps done as well as any, followed by Paul
Dubois, J. Dillens (a follower of the French), G. Devreese and
Vingotte (see Plate)— whose plaquette for the Brussels Exhibition
award (1887) is original, but more admirable in design than in finish.
Holland. — In Holland not very much has been done. Patriotism
has called forth many medals of Queen Wilhelmina, and the best of
them are doubtless those of Bart van Hove and Wortman. Baars
is a more virile artist, who follows Chaplain at a distance. Wienecke
is interesting for the sake of his early Netherlandic manner; the
incongruity is not unpleasant.
Switzerland. — The medal is also popular in Switzerland. Here
Bovy is the leader of the French ^adition and Hans Frei of a more
national sentiment. The last-named, however, is more remarkable
as a revivalist than as an original artist.
Great Britain. — In England only two medallists of repute can be
counted who practically confine themselves to their art — G. W. de
Saulles, of the Royal Mint, best known by the Diamond Jubilee
medal of Queen Victoria and by his medal of Sir Gabriel Stokes,
and Frank Bowcher (see Plate) by that of Thomas Huxley. These
artists both cut their own dies when necessary. Emil Fuchs,
working in England in the manner of the French medallists, but
with greater freedom than is the wont of the older school, has pro-
duced several examples of the art: the medals commemorative
of the South African War and of Queen Victoria (two versions), all
of 1900 ; and many portrait medals and plaquettes of small size have
come from the same hand. Besides these, the leading English
sculptors have produced medals — Lord LeightOn, Sir Edward
Poynter, Hamo Thornycroft, T. Brock, Onslow Ford, G. Framptbn
and Goscombe John ; but, practising more continually in sculpture,
they do not claim rank as medallists, nor have they sought to acquire
that class of dexterity which constant habit alone can give. Alphonse
Legros, who has cast a certain number of portrait medals, is usually
included in the French school.
United States. — Among American medallists Augustus St Qaudens
(see Plate) is perhaps the most prominent; but he is not, strictly
speaking, a medallist, but a sculptor who can model in the flat.
Authorities. — F. Parkes Weber, Medals and Medallions of the
ZQth Century relating to England by Foreign Artists (London, 1894);
Roger Marx, " The Renaissance of the Medal in France," The Sluaw
(vol. xv. 1898) ; M. H. Spielmann, " Frank Bowcher, Medallist, with
some Comment on the Medallic Art," The Magazine of Art (February
1900) ; Spink & Son's Monthly Numismatic Circular {passim},
1892 onwards (in English, French and German) ; Roger Marx, Les
MSdailleurs francais depuis 1780 (Paris, 1897) ; Les Medailleurs
francais contemporains (Plates) (Paris, 1899) ; La Monnaie it
Paris a V Exposition Vniverselle (Paris, 1900) ; Cent ans de numis-
matique francaise (2 vols., 1893-1895); F. Mazerolle, L. 0. Roty:
Biographie et catalogue de son ozuvre (Paris, 1897); J- F. Chaplain:
Biographie et catalogue de I'ceuvre (Paris, 1897) ; Dr H. J. de
Domptere de Chaufepie, Les Medailles et plaquettes modernes (in
Dutch and French) (Haarlem, 1897) ; A. R. v. Loehr, Wiener Medail-
leure, i8qq. (Vienna, 1899); A. Lichtwark, " Die Wiedererweckunf
der Medaine," Pan, 1895, pp. 34-40; 1896, pp. 311-318; Die Modern.
Medaille (a monthly magazine, passim) (Vienna) ; L. Forrer, Bio-
graphical Dictionary of Medallists, vol. i. A-D. (London, 1902).
(M. H. S.)
Medals as War Decorations
Although the striking of medals to commemorate important
events is a practice of considerable antiquity, yet the custom'
of using the medai as a decoration, and especially as a decoratidil
to do honour to those who have rendered service to the staW
MEDAL
Plate I.
P**-'.""
DUPLESSIS PLAQUETTE.
Rotv.
MAURICE ALBERT
PORTRAIT.
ROTY.
STUDY.
Rotv.
WEDDING MEDAL.
ROTY.
BOULANGER PLAQUETTE.
ROTY.
AMBROISINE MERLIN
From the Medal by
Michel Cazin.
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MEDALS AND PLAQUETTES.
Jules Chaplain.
PLATE II.
MEDAL
HENRI DUBOIS.
MEDAL OF AWARD FOR THE COPE
AND NICOL SCHOOL OF PAINTING.
F. BoWCHER.
FRANCE, 1870.
ROTY.
GOLD MEDAL, VIENNA
1894.
By Joseph Tautenhayn.
GREAT GOLD MEDAL, BRUSSELS, 1898.
Designed by P. Wolfers. Engraved by V1N90TTE.
PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION, 18
By Louis Bottee.
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, CHICAGO, 1893.
By Augustus St Gaudens.
MEDAL
in time of war, is comparatively modern. It has been supposed
that the circular ornaments on the Roman standards had medals
in their centres, but there is no evidence to show that this
was the case, and the standards shown on the column of Trajan
appear only to have had plain bosses in their centres. It is
true that the Chinese are said to have used military medals
during the Han dynasty (ist century A.D.), but, as far as the
West is concerned, we have to come to the 16th century before
we find the custom of wearing medals as decorations of honour
a recognized institution.
The wearing of decorative medals was common in England in
the reign of Henry VIII., but the first medals commemorating
a particular event that were evidently intended as a personal
decoration, and were in all probability (though there is no
absolute proof) bestowed as reward for military services rendered
to the Crown, are the " Armada " medals of Queen Elizabeth,
1 588-1 589. Of these there are two. The earliest, generally
styled the " Ark in flood " medal, is a large oval medal of
silver (2 by 1-75 in.), and bears on the obverse a profile bust
of the queen surrounded by the inscription, ELIZABETH
D. G. ANGLIAE. F. ET HI. REG. On the reverse is an ark
on waves, with above the rays of the sun, and around the
legend, SAEVAS TRANQVILLA PER VNDAS. This medal
dates from 1588, and in the following year there was given
another medal, a little larger (2-3 by 2-1 in.) and struck in gold,
silver and copper. The obverse of this second medal bore a
full-face bust of Elizabeth, with the legend, characteristic
both of the monarch and the period, DITIOR IN TOTO NON
ALTER CIRCULUS ORBE. The reverse has an island around
which ships are sailing and sea-monsters swimming, and on
the island there are houses, a flourishing bay-tree, standing
uninjured by a storm of wind, and lightning emerging from
heavy clouds above. The island is inscribed NON IPSA
PERICVLA TANGVNT. These medals are of special interest
as demonstrating thus early the existence of a doctrine of
sea-power. In fact, in the medals of James I. (1603-1625),
none of which have a distinct reference to war services, the
" ark in flood " design was again reproduced on the reverse,
this time with the legend slightly altered, viz. STET SALVVS
IN VNDIS.
Other European nationalities were also about this period
conferring decorative medals as a reward for war services,
as for example, the " Medal to Volunteers " issued in Holland
in 162 2-1.623 and the " Military Medal of Gustavus Adolphus "
issued in Sweden in 1630. Here it may be noted that in follow-
ing the history of medals as used as a decoration to reward
military services, only those of British origin need be dealt
with in detail, since Great Britain has utilized them in a much
greater degree than any other nationality. The countless
minor wars of the 19th century, waged by the forces of the
Crown of every class, navy, army and auxiliary, have no equiva-
lent in the history of other states, even in that of France, the
United States and Russia. The great wars of the 19th century
were divided by long intervals of peace, and the result is that
with most of the great military powers the issue of campaign
medals has been on a small scale, and in the main decorations
have taken the form of " Orders " (see Knighthood and
Chivalry: Orders), or purely personal decorations for some
meritorious or exemplary service.
During the reign of Charles I. (1625-1649), we come across
numerous medals and badges; a considerable number of these
were undoubtedly associated with, and given, even system-
atically given, as rewards for war services; for a royal warrant
" given at our Court of Oxford, the eighteenth day of May,
1643," which directed " Sir William Parkhurst, Knight, and
Thomas Bushell, Esquire, Wardens of our Mint, to provide
from time to time certain Badges of silver, containing our Royal
image, and that of our dearest son, Prince Charles, to be delivered
to wear on the breast of every man who shall be certified under
the hands of their Commanders-in-Chief to have done us faithful
service in the Forlorn-hope."
From the foregoing it must not be deduced that this medal
was in any way intended to reward special valour. In those
days " forlorn-hopes " were not volunteers for some desperate
enterprise, as to-day, but a tactical advanced guard which
naturally varied, both in numbers and arm of the service,
according to ground and circumstances. That a very free
distribution of the award was contemplated is evident from
the fact that " soldiers " alone were specified as recipients
and that a clause was inserted in the warrant strictly forbidding
the sale of the medal. This letter ran: —
" And we do, therefore, • most straitly command, that no
soldier at any time do sell, nor any of our subjects
presume to buy, or wear, any of these said Badges,
other than they to whom we shall give the same, and
that under such pain and punishment as our Council
of War shall think fit to inflict, if any shall presume
to offend against this our Royal command."
As there are in existence several medals of this period which
bear the effigies of both the king and Prince Charles, it is
uncertain which in particular was used for the " forlorn-hope "
award. Very probably it is one, an oval silver-gilt medal
(1-7 by 1-3 in.) which bears on the obverse a three-quarters
(r.) bust of Charles I., and on the reverse a profile (1.) bust of
Prince Charles (see Mayo, Medals and Decorations of the British
Army and Navy, vol. 1. No. 16, Plate 5, No. 3). During the
Commonwealth (1649-1660), parliament was lavish in the
award of medals in recognition of war services, and for the
first time we find statutory provision made for their bestowal
as naval awards, in the shape of acts of parliament passed
Feb. 22, 1648 and April 7, 1649 (cap. 12, 1648 and cap. 21,
1649), and Orders in Council of May 8 and Nov. 19 and
21, 1649, and Dec. 20, 1652. There is no doubt whatever
that there was a " Medal of the Parliament " for sea service
issued in 1649. This medal, oval (-95 by -85 in.) and struck
in gold and silver, had on the obverse an anchor, from the
stock of which are suspended two shields, one bearing the
cross of St George, and the other the Irish harp. The motto
is MERVISTI. On the anchor stock, T. S. 1 The reverse
has on it the House of Commons with the Speaker in the chair.
This medal is referred to in a minute of the Council of State
of Nov. 15, 1649: —
" (5) That the Formes of the medalls which are now brought
in to be given to the severall Mariners who have
done good service this last Sumer be approved off,
viz': the Armes of the Cofhon wealth on one side
with Meruisti written above it, and the picture
of the House of Cofnons on the other."
That there was a " Medal of the Parliament " for land service
as well, is proved by the following extract from the Journals
of the House of Commons (vii. 6, 7) : —
" Resolved, That a Chain of Gold, with the Medal of the Parlia-
ment, to the Value of One Hundred Pounds, be sent
to Colonel Mackworth, Governor of Shrewsbury, as a
mark of the Parliament's Favour, and good acceptance
of his fidelity: And that the Council of State do take
care for the providing the same, and sending it forth-
with."
This order was duly carried out, as is shown in the minutes
of the Council of State, June 2 and July 30, 1652, but there
is no trace to-day of either medal or chain. It is not un-
likely that this medal is one figured at page 117 of Evelyn's
Numismata (the engraving, unnumbered, is placed between*
Nos. 39 and 40, and there is no allusion to it in the text), which
has On the obverse a representation of the parliament, and on
the reverse a bust of the Protector with a camp and troops in
the background.
The most splendid of all the naval awards of this period
were those given for the three victories over the Dutch in 1653,
namely: —
1 Thomas Simon, master and chief graver of the mint. Most
of the medals of this period were his work, and they are considered
to be amongst the best specimens of the medallic art that have been
produced in the country.
MEDAL
i. The fight of Feb. 18/20, when Blake, Deane and Monk
defeated Van Tromp and De Ruyter, the battle beginning
off Portland and ending near Calais; (2) the fight of June 2
and 3, off the Essex coast, when Monk, Deane (killed), Penn
and Blake, again defeated Van Tromp and De Ruyter; (3) the
fight of 31st of July off the Texel, in which Monk, Penn and
Lawson beat Van Tromp in what was the decisive action of
the war. The authorization for these awards will be found
recorded in the Journals of the House of Commons (vii. 296,
297), under date Aug. 8, 1653. The medals, all oval, and in
gold, were given in three sizes, as described below: —
A (2-2 by 2 in.). Only four of these medals were issued,
to Admirals Blake and Monk, each with a gold chain of the
value of £300, and to Vice-Admiral Penn and Rear-Admiral
Lawson, each with a gold chain of the value of £100. On the
obverse is an anchor, from the stock of which are suspended
three shields, bearing respectively St George's cross, the saltire
of St Andrew, and the Irish harp, the whole encircled by the
cable of the anchor. On the reverse is depicted a naval battle
with, in the foreground, a sinking ship. Both obverse and reverse
have broad, and very handsome, borders of naval trophies, and
on the obverse side this border has imposed upon it the arms
of Holland and Zeeland. Of these four medals three are known
to be in existence. One, lent by the warden and fellows of
Wadham College, Oxford (Blake, it may be noted, was a member
of Wadham College) was exhibited at the Royal Naval Exhibi-
tion of 1891. A second is in the royal collection at Windsor
Castle. The third, with its chain, is in the possession of the
family of Stuart of Tempsford House, Bedfordshire. This
latter medal is known to have been the one given to Vice-
Admiral Penn, an ancestor of the Stuart family. The one
at Windsor is presumably Blake's, as Tancred states " the
medal given to Blake was purchased for William IV. at the
price of 150 guineas (Tancred, Historical Records of Medals,
p. 30). The medal at Wadham was formerly in Captain
Hamilton's collection. He purchased it at a low figure, but
secrecy was kept as to the owner, and the original chain that
was with it went into the melting-pot: there is therefore nothing
to show whether it was Monk's or Lawson's, as the chain would
have done. It was sold at Sotheby's in May 1882 for £305.
B (2 by i-8 in.). Four of these medals were issued, each
with a gold chain of the value of £40, to the " Flag Officers,"
i.e. to the flag captains who commanded the four flag-ships.
The obverse and reverse of this medal are, with the exception
of the borders, precisely as in (A). The borders on both sides
are a little narrower than those of (A), and of laurel instead
of trophies. One of these medals — that given to Captain William
Haddock, who was probably Monk's flag-captain in the " Van-
guard," in the February fight, as he had been in that ship in
the previous year, and who commanded the " Hannibal,"
(44) in the June battle — is now (1909) in the possession of
Mr C. D. Holworthy, who is maternally descended from
Captain Haddock.
C (i-6 by 1-4 in.). This medal is precisely the same as (B).
but has no border of any kind, and also was issued without
the gold chains. It was in all probability one that was issued
in some numbers to the captains and other senior officers of
the fleet.
Some of these medals have in the plate of the reverse an
inscription: FOR EMINENT SERVICE IN SAVING Y
TRIUMPH FIERED IN FIGHT WH Y DVCH IN JULY
1653. The medal so inscribed was given only to those who
served in the " Triumph," and commemorates a special service.
Blake, incapacitated by wounds received in the fight of February,
took no part in this action, but his historic flag-ship, the
" Triumph," formed part of the fleet) and early in the battle
was fired by the Dutch fire-ships. Many of the crew threw
themselves overboard in a panic, but those who remained on
board succeeded by the most indomitable and heroic efforts
in subduing the flames, and so saving the vessel.
But undoubtedly the most interesting of all the medals of
the Commonwealth period, is that known as the " Dunbar
Medal," authorized by parliament, Sept. 10, 1650, in a resolu-
tion of which the following is an extract : —
"Ordered, that it be referred to the Committee of the Army,
to consider what Medals may be prepared, both for
Officers and Soldiers, that were in this Service in Scotland;
and set the Proportions and Values of them, and their
number; and present the Estimate of them to the
House. (Journals of the House of Commons, vi. 464-465.)
So came into being, what, in a degree, may be regarded as
the prototype of the " war medal " as we know it to-day, for
the " Dunbar Medal" is the very earliest that we know was
issued to all ranks alike, to the humblest soldiers as well as to
the commander-in-chief. It differed however in one very
material point from the war medal of to-day — in that it was
issued in two sizes, and in several different metals. There
is no evidence to show what Was the method that governed the
issue of this medal; but the medal itself undoubtedly varied
in size or metal, or both, according to the rank of the recipient.
Of the two sizes in which the medal was issued the smaller,
1 by -85 in. was apparently intended for seniors in the
respective grades, for it was struck in gold, silver and copper.
The larger, 1-35 by 1-15 in. was struck in silver, copper and
lead (see Mayo. op. cit. i. 20-21). 1 On the obverse of both
issues of the " Dunbar Medal " is a left profile bust of Oliver
Cromwell, with, in the distance, a battle. The reverse of the
larger medal has the parliament assembled in one House with
the Speaker; and, on the left, a member standing addressing
the chair. The reverse of the smaller medal is the same as
that of the larger, except that the member addressing the House
is omitted. Cromwell himself expressed a wish to the " Com-
mittee of the Army, at London," in a letter dated the 4th of
February 1650/51, that his likeness, to procure which accurately
the committee had sent Mr Simon to Scotland, should not appear
on the medal. He writes: —
" If my poor opinion may not be rejected by you, I have to offer
to which I think the most noble end, to witt, The Commemoracon
of that great Mercie att Dunbar, and the Gratuitie to the Army,
which might be better expressed upon the Medall, by engraving,
as on the one side the Parliament which I hear was intended
and will do singularly well, so on the other side an Army, with this
inscription over the head of it, The Lord of Hosts which was
our Word that day. Wherefore, if I may beg it as a favour from
you, I most earnestly beseech you, if I may do it without offence,
that it may be soe. And if you think not ntt to have it as I offer,
you may alter it as you see cause ; only I doe think I may truly say,
it will be very thankfully acknowledged by me, if you will spare
the having my Effigies in it."
In spite of this request Cromwell's " Effigies " is made the
prominent feature of the obverse of the medal, to which the
representation of the " Army " is entirely subordinated. His
wish that the " word " for the day should be commemorated
is, however, observed in the legend on the obverse, as is also,
on the reverse, his suggestion that on one side of the medal
there should be a representation of the parliament.
During the reign of Charles II. the issue of medals was numer-
ous, and though we have it on the authority of Evelyn that
many of these were bestowed as "gratuities of respect," yet
many were given as naval awards; and, for the first time,
there appears official authorization for the conferring of particu-
lar awards on those who had succeeded in the very hazardous
service of destroying an enemy's vessel by the use of fire-ships.
In what are probably the earliest " Fighting Instructions "
issued- — those of Sir William Penn, in 1653, and again in an
abridged form in 1655 — no allusion to these awards is made,
but that the custom of rewarding this special service prevailed,
there is a piece of strong indirect evidence to show, in the shape
of an amusing letter from a certain Captain Cranwill, of
" ye Hare Pinke," to the Admiralty Committee, dated Feb. 4,
1655:—
1 An excellent reproduction of this medal, both obverse and re-
verse, is given in Plate 8, figs. 4 and 5, of the same work, and pa
Plate 9 will be found equally well reproduced facsimiles of the three
medals for " Victories over the Dutch, 1653," figs. 1, 2 and 3 and of
the " Medal of the Parliament, for Sea Service, 1649," fig. r.
MEDAL
5
" As for ye Pay yor Honrs were please to order mee for my service
in ye Hare Pinke, I return most humble thankes, and am ready to
serve yor Honrs and my Country for ye future
Fpr though ye Hare be mewsed in ye sand
yet Cranwell at your mercy still doth stand
A fire Ship now doth hee Crave,
And the Fox fain would he Have,
then has hee had both Fox and Hare,
then Spanish Admirall stand you cleare,
For Cranwell means ye Chaine of goold to ware ;
Sett penn to paper it is done,
for Cranwell still will be your man,"
aD of which goes to show that it had not been unusual to bestow
gold chains, with or without medals, on the captains of fire-
ships. By the " Fighting Instructions" issued 20th of April,
1665, by James, duke of York, lord high admiral, it was pro-
vided as follows. In the case of the destruction of an enemy's
vessel of forty guns or more, each person remaining on board
the fire-ship till the service was performed was to receive £10,
" on board ye Admirall imediately after ye service done,"
and the captain a gold medal and " shuth other future encourage-
ment by preferment and commande as shall be fitt both to
reward him and induce others to perform ye like Service."
If it was a flag-ship that was fired " ye Recompense in money
shall be doubled to each man performing itt, and ye medall
to ye Commander shall be shuth as shall particularly ezpress
ye Eminensye of ye . Service, and his with ye other officers
preferement shalbe suitable to ye meritt of itt." This was
followed by an " Oder of the King in Council " dated Whitehall
12th of January 1669-1670, in which the lord high admiral is
authorized " to distribute a Medall and Chaine to such Captaines
of Fire Shipps as in the last Dutch Warr have burnt any Man
of Warr, as also to any of them that shall perform any such
service in the present Warr with Algiers. Which Medalls
and Chaines are to be of the price of Thirty Pounds each or
thereabouts "
To complete the story of fire-ship awards, it may here be
noted (though out of chronological order) that in 1703 revised
" Fighting Instructions " were issued by Admiral Sir George
Rocke, in which it was provided that the captain was to have
his choice between a gratuity of £100, or a gold medal and
chain of that value. Lastly an order of the king in council,
dated, St James's, 16th of December, 1742, ordered that all
lieutenants of fire-ships (which originally carried, no officers
of this rank) should be entitled to a gratuity of £50 " in all
cases where the Captain is entituled to the Reward of £100."
Though probably others were conferred, so thorough an investi-
gator as the late John Horsley Mayo, for many years assistant
military secretary at the India office, who had special opportun-
ities of access to official records,. traced but three authenticated
fire-ship awards. Those were: (1) to Captain John Guy, who
blew up his fire-ship the " Vesuvius " under the walls of St
Malo in 1693; (2) to Captain Smith Callis who, with his fire-
ship the " Duke," in 1742, destroyed five Spanish galleys
which had put into St Tropez, to the eastward of Marseilles;
(3) to Captain James Wooldridge, who commanded the British
fire-ships in Aix Roads on the nth of April 1809, when four
French sail of the line were burnt. This latter is believed
to be the last award of the kind that was issued. Fire-ships
awards are of special interest as affording a precedent, in future
naval wars, for the award of special decorations for torpedo
services.
It is in this reign also that we first find a case of medals
being granted by the Honourable East India Company. The
earliest of these would appear to have been a gold medal of
the value of £20, conferred on Sir George Oxinden, president
at Sural, 1622-1669, in 1668, for considerable civil and military
services. Surat was then and until 1687, when Bombay took
its place, the seat of government of the Western Presidency,
and the most eminent of Sir George's services was the defence
of the Company's treasures and possessions at that place against
Sivajee and the Mahrattas in 1664. It is not known what
has become of this medal, but there is indirect evidence to
show that it was a circular medal, three inches in diameter.
On the obverse the "Arms of the Governor and Company of
Merchants of London trading to the East Indies, with creast,
supporters, and mottoes," and around the legend NON MINOR
EST VIRTVS QUAM QVAERERE PARTA TVERI. The
reverse was probably blank to admit of an inscription. This
award was the forerunner of many given by the H.E.I. Co.,
several of which were " general distributions " of the very highest
interest, which will be dealt with together later on.
The awards made in the reigns of James II., William and
Mary, William III., Anne, George I., George II., may be very
briefly dealt with. Almost without an exception they were
either naval or conferred by the Hon. East India Company,
and with only perhaps one or two exceptions, they were " per-
sonal " as distinct from " general " awards. Of the very few
medals awarded by James II., one was an undoubted military
award, though curiously enough the recipient was a bishop.
This was Peter Mew, who had been made bishop of Bath and
Wells in 1672, was translated to Winchester 1684, " and next
year was commanded by the king, in compliance with the re-
quest of the gentry of Somerset, to go against Monmouth, and
did eminent service at the battle of Sedgmoor, where he managed
the artillery; for which he was rewarded with a rich medal "
(Hutchins's History of Dorset, 3rd ed., vol. iv. p. 149).
The possible exceptions in the way of a " general " distribu-
tion of a medal during the reigns under review are the cases
of the medals struck after the battles of La Hogue, 1692,
and Culloden, 1746. By an act of parliament passed in 1692
(4 Gul. and Mar. c. 25), it was enacted that a tenth part of
the prize money taken by the navy should be set apart " for
Medalls and other Rewards for Officers, Mariners, and Seamen
in their Majesties Service at Sea who shall be found to have
done any signal or extraordinary service." (Later a Royal
Declaration of Queen Anne, the 1st of June 1702, provided that
all medal and monetary awards " shall be also paid out of Her
Majesties Shares of Prizes.") This is the first case in naval
records authorizing the issue of medals to men as well as to
officers, and the conferring of the "La Hogue" medal was
the first case in which the enactment was carried into effect,
at any rate as far as admirals and officers are concerned. Seamen
and soldiers had a more substantial reward, for the queen sent
£30,000 to be distributed amongst them, whilst gold and silver
medals were struck for the admirals and officers. The medal,
which was circular, 1-95 in. in diameter, had on the obverse
the busts conjoined of William and Mary, r., with around GVL
ET MAR D G M B F ET H REX ET REGINA. On the reverse
was a representation of the fight, showing the French flag-ship,
" Le Soleil Royal," in flames, with above the legend, NOX
NVLLA SECVTA EST, and, in the exergue, PVGN NAV INT
ANG ET FR 21 MAY 1692.
As regards the medal struck after Culloden, fought on the
1 6th of April 1746, and in which the adherents of the young
Pretender were completely routed, there is nothing even to
show that it was issued even by the authority of the government,
though it was undoubtedly worn, and (if a contemporary portrait
is to be relied upon, that of an ancestor of Mr W. Chandos-Pole
of Radbourne Hall in Derbyshire) around the neck attached
to a crimson ribbon with a green edge. There is no doubt it
was struck in gold, silver and copper, but how it was awarded
there is no proof, probably only to officers. The obverse had
an r., bust of the duke of Cumberland, with above CUMBER-
LAND, below YEO f (Richard Yeo fecit), and, on the reverse,
an Apollo, laureate, leaning upon his bow and pointing to a
dragon wounded by his arrow. The reverse legend was ACTUM
EST ILICET PERIIT, and, in the exergue PROEL COLOD
AP XVI MDCCXLVI. The medal is a strikingly handsome
one, with an ornamental border and ring for suspension, oval,
1-75 by 1 -45 in., but very few specimens are known to exist.
Those in gold were probably only given to officers commanding
regiments and a very fine specimen of these, originally conferred
on Brigadier-General Fleming (at one time in command of the
36th Foot) is now in the collection of Major-General Lord
MEDAL
Cheylesmore. In his monograph, Naval and Military Medals,
Lord Cheylesmore mentions another " Culloden " medal in
his collection, " a slightly larger one in white metal, which
leads one to suppose that it was given in inferior metal to the
more junior branches, probably officers; but whether this was
the case or no I am unable authoritatively to state." However,
one thing is fairly certain, that the issue of the " Culloden "
medal was in no sense " general," as we now understand the
term, nor as were the issues for " Dunbar " or the issues of the
Honourable East India Company, which will next be dealt with.
No medal awards were made to either the naval or military
services for the Seven Years' War, and the American War of
Independence. In fact George III. had been more than thirty
years on the throne when the first medal award by the Crown
was given, in the shape of the navy gold medals, first issued
in 1 794. It will however be more convenient to deal later with
these medals and the army gold medals and crosses given for
services in the long and arduous struggle of 1793-1815, and to
describe here in sequence those medals which were issued by the
Honourable East India Company, the issue of which was, with
certain limitations, " general," thus reverting to the precedent
first established in the " Dunbar " award-, namely an issue to
all ranks. They are nine in number, and are described below
in the chronological order of the military operations for which
they were awarded.
1. The " DECCAN " medal. Authorized, first in 1784, and again
1785. Obverse: Figure of Britannia seated on a military trophy,
with her right hand holding a wreath of laurel and extended towards
a fortress over which the British flag flies. Reverse: Persian in-
scriptions — In centre, " Presented by the Calcutta Government
in memory of good service and intrepid valour, a.d. 1784, a.h. i 199 ;"
around, " Like this coin may it endure in the world, and the exer-
tions of those lion-hearted Englishmen of great name, victorious
from Hindostan to the Deccan, become exalted." This medal was
issued in two sizes, diameters i-6 and 1-25 in. The larger medal
was struck both in gold and silver, the smaller in silver only, and
both were worn round the neck suspended from a yellow cord. This
medal was awarded to two large detachments of the Bengal army,
denominated the " Bombay Detachment "(authorized 1784), and
the " Carnatic Detachment " (authorized 1785), which respectively
fought in the west of India and Guzerat, 1778-84, and in the south
of India, 1780-84. The medal was not given to any Europeans,
only to natives; the larger medal in gold to Subadars, and in silver
to Jemadars; the smaller silver medal to non-commissioned officers
and sepoys. By a minute of council, dated the 15th of July 1784, a
further boon was granted to the " Bombay Detachment," inasmuch
as it exempted all Hindus of that detachment from payment of the
duties levied by the authorities on pilgrims to Coya in Behar. As
the large majority of the troops were high caste Hindus, and Coya
was, and is the Mecca of Hinduism, this favour must have been
much appreciated by the recipients of the medal. This is the earliest
Anglo-Indian example of a medal issued alike to all ranks.
2. The "MYSORE" medal. Authorized, 1793. Obverse: A
sepoy holding in his right hand the British colours, in his left an
enemy's standard reversed, whilst his left foot rests on a dismounted
cannon. A fortified town is in the background. Reverse: Within
a wreath; "For Services in Mysore, a.d. 1791-1792." Between
wreath and rim is an inscription in Persian: " A memorial of devoted
services to the English government at the war of Mysore. Christian
Era, 1791-1792, equivalent to the Mahomedan Era, 1205-1206."
Like the " Deccan ' this medal was in two sizes, diameters 17 in.
and 1*5 in., the larger being struck both in gold and silver, the smaller
in silver only, and both were worn suspended from the neck by a
yellow cord. The medal was awarded for the operations against
Tippoo Sultan, and was bestowed on the " Native Officers and Sepoys
of the Infantry and Cavalry, and on the Artillery Lascars, who either
marched by land, or proceeded by sea to the Carnatic and returned
to Bengal. The large gold medals were given to Subadars, the
large silver to " Jemadars and Serangs," the small silver medals to
" Havildars, Naicks, Tindals, Sepoys and Lascars." The award
therefore, followed precisely the precedent set in the " Deccan "
medal. One of the very rare gold specimens of this medal is in the
collection of Captain Whitaker, late 5th Fusiliers, whose collection,
and that of Lord Cheylesmore, are probably the two finest that
have as yet been brought together.
3. The " CEYLON " medal. Authorized, 1807. Obverse: An
English inscription: " For Services on the Island of Ceylon,
a.d. 1795-6." Reverse: A Persian inscription: "This Medal was
presented to commemorate good services in Ceylon during the years
of the Hegira 1209-10." This medal was issued in only one size,
2 in. diameter, and was awarded to a small force of Bengal native
artillery which formed a fraction of a large body of British and native
troops (the rest did not receive the medal) which captured Ceylon
from the Dutch in 1795-96. It is the only instance of a war medal
that has merely a verbal design on both obverse and reverse, and
moreover it sets a precedent that was destined to be followed only
too often in that it was only granted twelve years after the services
that had earned it had been rendered. Only 123 medals were struck,
two in gold for native officers, and 121 in silver for other ranks.
Like the two preceding, it was worn from the neck suspended from
a yellow cord.
4. The "SERINGAPATAM "medal. Authorized, 1799, for services
in Lord Harris's campaign of that year, and the storm of Seringa-
patam. Obverse: A representation of the storming of the breach
at Seringapatam, with the meridian sun denoting the time of the
storm. In the exergue is a Persian inscription: "The Fort
of Seringapatam, the gift of God, the 4th May 1799." Reverse:
A British lion overcoming a tiger, the emblem of Tippoo Sultan.
Above is a standard, with, in the innermost part of the hoist im-
mediately contiguous to the staff, the Union badge, and, in the fly,
an Arabic legend signifying " The Lion of God is the Conqueror."
Intheexergue: IV. MAY, MDCCXCIX. (the date of the assault). It
was in one size, 1-9 in. but of five different kinds. Although
the medal was authorized in 1799, it was 1801 before orders, for the
preparation of 30 gold medals, 185 silver-gilt, 850 silver, 5006 copper
bronzed, and 45,000 pure tin, were given, the artist being C. H.
Kuchler, and the medals made by Matthew Boulton at the Soho
Mint, Birmingham. It was 1808 before they came out to India for
distribution, and it was not till 1815 that the Company's European
officers had the prince regent's sanction to wearing them on public
occasions. For the first time the issue was absolutely " general,"
to Europeans as well as natives, to Crown troops as well as to those
of the H.E.I. Co., but it was not till 1851, when the First India G.S.
Medal was awarded, that official sanction was given to their being
worn by Europeans in uniform. The medal was given in gold to
general officers, in silver-gilt to field officers, in silver to captains and
subalterns, in copper bronzed to non-commissioned officers, and
in pure grain tin to privates and sepoys. With regard to this medal
there ,is an incident that is worth recording. The bulk of the troops
engaged at Seringapatam were Crown forces, or belonged to the
Madras and Bombay presidencies; the only Bengal troops taking
part being five battalions of infantry, and artillery detachments.
On their return to Bengal no steps were taken with regard to medals
till 1807, when medals copied from the Soho Mint one, but 1-8 in.
only in diameter, were made at the Calcutta Mint. Following the
Bengal precedents as set in the " Deccan," " Mysore " and " Ceylon "
medals, the medals were struck in gold for officers, and in silver for
the other ranks. A Bengal native officer therefore wore just the
same medal as a general officer of any of the other forces,
and similarly a Bengal sepoy wore the same medal as a British
captain or subaltern of the Crown. The Bengal medal can easily
be distinguished from the others, for in the reverse the artist s
initials C.H.K. are rendered "C.5I.H." Some officers, amongst
them Lord Harris himself and h'is second-in-command Sir David
Baird, wore the medal with the red, blue-bordered ribbon, which is
the same as that worn with the Army Gold Medal (see below) and
was in fact the only authorized military ribbon then in use; but
though no ribbon was issued with the medal, recipients were given
to understand that the ribbon would be of a deep maize colour and
watered, the shading on the ribbon symbolizing the stripes in the
fur of the tiger, Tippoo Sultan's favourite emblem. The duke of
Wellington's medal (silver gilt), has the maize (or yellow as it is
often termed) ribbon, and the medal was undoubtedly more generally
worn with this ribbon than with, the red and blue one. There are
also apparently occasional instances of it having been worn with a
plain red ribbon.
5. The "EGYPT" medal. Authorized, 1802. Obverse: A
Sepoy holding the Union Flag in his right hand ; in the background
a camp. In exergue, in Persian: " This medal has been presented
in commemoration of the defeat of the French Army in Egypt by
the victorious and brave English Army." Reverse: A British ship
sailing towards the coast of Egypt. In the background, an obelisk
and four pyramids. In the exergue, MDCCCI. This medal was
only awarded to native officers and men of the small force of Bengal
and Bombay troops which formed part of the expeditionary force
from India, that co-operated in Sir Ralph Abercromby's descent on
Egypt in 1801 (see Baird, Sir David). This was another case of
a belated issue (181 1 for the Bengal troops and two years later for
the Bombay troops). The medal was issued in only one size, 1-9 in.
in diameter. For the Bengal troops 776 medals were struck, 16 in
gold for commissioned officers, 760 in silver for other ranks. The
Bombay government obtained the approval of the court of directors
for the issue of the medal to their troops in 1803, but apparently
did nothing till 1812, when they asked the Calcutta Mint for a copy
of the medal to enable them to prepare similar ones. The Bombay
Mint would not however appear to have been equal to the occasion,
for the sample was returned to Calcutta with the request that 1439
medals might be struck there. This was accordingly done, but ail
of these medals were made of silver, and so the medal went to the
Bombay troops in all ranks alike. As in the case of the " Deccan "
medal, Hindu sepoys, who had volunteered for Egypt, were exempted
from the duties levied on pilgrims. This medal was worn suspended
from the neck by a yellow cord.
MEDALS AND DECORATIONS
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MEDAL
6. The " RGDRIGUES, BOURBON AND MAURITIUS "
medal. Authorized, 1811. Obverse: A sepoy, holding in his right
hand the British flag, in his left a musket with bayonet fixed, stands
with his left foot trampling a French eagle and standard ; beside the
figure a cannon, and, in the background the sea and ships. Reverse:
Within a wreath, in Persian: " This medal was conferred in com-
memoration of the bravery and devotion exhibited by the Sepoys
of the English Company in the capture of the Islands of Rodrigues,
Bourbon, and Mauritius, in the year of the Hegira 1226." In the
circumference, in English: RODRIGUES VI. JULY MDCCCIX.
BOURBON VIII. JULY AND ISLE OF FRANCE III. DEC.
MDCCCX. This medal was awarded to the native troops of the
Bengal Presidency that formed part of the combined naval and mili-
tary forces that effected the reduction of these islands in 1809-10.
The government of Bengal also suggested " for the consideration
of the governments of Fort St George and Bombay, that corre-
sponding Medals shall be conferred on the native troops from those
Establishments;" but those governments do not appear to have
complied with the suggestion, a distinct injustice to the Madras
and Bombay troops employed. The medals, struck at the Calcutta
Mint for the Bengal troops, were 1-9 in. in diameter, and in gold
and silver, 45 gold for native officers, 2156 silver for all other ranks.
They were worn as was customary in so many cases with yellow silk
cord suspended from the neck.
7. The "JAVA" medal. Authorized, 1812. Obverse: A
representation of the storming of Fort Cornelis. On a flag-staff
the British flag is shown flying above a Dutch one, and over all is
the word Cornelis. Reverse : In Persian : " This medal was conferred
in commemoration of the bravery and courage exhibited by the
Sepoys of the English Company in the capture of Java, 1228, Hegira."
In circumference, in English: "JAVA CONQUERED XXVI.
AUGUST MDCCCXI." This medal was awarded to the native
troops of the Honourable East India Company (all Bengal),
which took part in the expedition under Lieut.-General Sir Samuel
Auchmuty which effected the capture of Java from the Dutch in
181 1. The medal, 1-9 in. in diameter, was struck in gold and
silver, 133 in the former metal for native officers, and 6519 in silver
for other ranks, and was worn in the usual manner with a yellow
silk cord.
8. The "NEPAL " medal. Authorized, 18 16. Obverse: Hills
crowned with stockades. In right foreground the colours and
bayonets of an attacking force, to the left a cannon. Reverse: In
Persian : " This Medal was conferred by the Nawab Governor-
General Bahadur in testimony of the energy, good service, skill and
intrepidity, which were displayed in the Hills in the years of the
Hegira 1229 and 1230." This was awarded to the native troops
of the East India Company who took part in the arduous operations
in Nepal in 1814-16. This medal, 2 in. in diameter, marks a
very interesting new departure, for it was struck only in silver,
and given to all ranks precisely alike, whether the recipient was
commissioned or not. It was worn from the usual yellow silk
cord.
9. The "BURMAH" medal. Authorized, 1826. Obverse:
Representation of the storming of the great pagoda at: Rangoon ; on
the left, a palm tree under which the general and staff, and the river
with steamer and boats of the Irrawaddy flotilla joining in the attack.
In exergue, in Persian: " The Standard of the victorious Army of
England upon Ava." Reverse: The White Elephant of Burma
crouching in submission before the British Lion; behind the lion,
the British flag flying broad, behind the elephant, the Burma flag
drooping and between the two flags palm trees. In the exergue,
in Persian: " The elephant of Ava submits to the lion of England,
year 1826." This, one of the most beautiful of all war medals, was
designed by W. Daniell, R.A., and executed by W. Wyon; and was
awarded to all the Company's native troops, that participated in
the First Burmese War, 1824-26. The medal, 1-5 in. diameter, was
issued in gold to native officers, in silver to other ranks. In all there
were struck; for Bengal troops, 308 gold, 13,108 silver; and for those
of Madras, 450 gold and 20,025 silver. Of the Madras medals how-
ever nearly half were still unclaimed in 1840. It is with this medal
that we first find, as regards Indian medals, definite instructions
as to the use of a ribbon, and the manner in which medals should
be worn. In 1831, it was officially ordered that the colour should be
red with blue edges — it was in fact precisely similar to the Waterloo
ribbon (for which see Plate I.) — and the instructions were that the
medal " be worn perfectly square upon the centre of the left breast,
the upper edge of the ribbon being even with the first button for
ranks wearing Sword Belts only, and even with the second button
for ranks wearing Cross Belts." Like the Waterloo medal also, it
was_ mounted on a steel clip and ring, and the medals were struck
at the Royal Mint instead of, as heretofore, in India. 1
1 Most of the authorities on medals, including Mr Thomas Carter
and Captain Tancred, style as the reverse of the medal what above
is styled the obverse and vice versa. We, however, prefer to agree
with the description of the medal as given by Mayo and for this
reason. The side of the medal which is described above as the
obverse depicts a chief incident of the war; the allegorical repre-
sentation on the other side is after all but the pictorial equivalent
of a verbal inscription, and so is properly the reverse of the medal.
This closes the list of the Indian medals, which, with the excep-
tion of that for Seringapatam, were issued only to the native
troops of the Honourable East India Company. All are now
very rare and very highly valued by collectors.
As has already been stated, the first war medals awarded
by the Crown in the reign of George III., were the navy gold
medals, instituted on the occasion of Lord Howe's great victory
over the French fleet on the 1st of June 1794. On the 26th of
that month the king and queen visited Portsmouth, and, on
the deck of the " Queen Charlotte," Lord Howe's flag-ship,
presented the victorious admiral with a diamond-hilted sword
of the value of three thousand guineas. Gold chains, from
which the medals were afterwards to be suspended, were also
conferred on Admiral Lord Howe; Vice- Admirals Graves and
Sir Alexander Hood; Rear- Admirals Gardner, Bowyer and
Pasley; and Captain of the Fleet Sir Roger Curtis. At the
same time the king announced his intention of conferring gold
medals on each of the officers named, and similar, but smaller
medals on the captains. The medals were delivered in 1796,
the Admiralty ordering " The Admirals to wear the Medal
suspended by a ribband round their necks. The Captains
to wear the Medal suspended to a ribband, but fastened through
the third or fourth button-hole on the left side. The colour of
the ribband, blue and white."
The ribbon, which is white with broad blue borders (see
Plate I.), did not of course supersede the gold chain in the case
of those officers on whom chains had been conferred. They
wore their chain with the ribbon, and the medal of Admiral
Bowyer (now in the collection of Lord Cheylesmore) is so sus-
pended. The same splendid and intensely interesting medal
was later conferred for various fleet and ship actions deemed
worthy of special acknowledgment; and so came into being
the first " regulation " medal for naval officers.
The two medals are, with but one slight distinction, identical
in design, the larger being 2, and the smaller 1-3, in. in diameter.
The design is: —
Obverse : The fore part of an antique galley, on the prow of which
rests a figure of Victory who is placing a wreath on the head of
Britannia who stands on the deck of the galley, her right foot resting
upon a helmet, her left hand holding a spear. Behind Britannia is a
" union " shield, charged with the Cross of St George and the Saltire
of St Andrew. (Ireland had not then been added to the Union).
Reverse: Within a wreath of oak and laurel, the name of the re-
cipient, the event for which the medal was conferred, and the date.
(In the smaller medal the wreath is omitted.)
In all, eighteen actions were recognized by this medal, the
complete list of which is as follows:—
The " Glorious First of June " (7 large and 18 small medals); St
Vincent (Feb. 14, 1787) (6 large and 15 small medals) ; Camperdown
Oct. 11, 1797) (2 large, 15 small medals); The Nile (Aug. 1,
1798) (1 large and 14 small medals); Re-capture of the frigate
" Hermione " from the Spaniards by the boats of H.M.S. " Surprise "
at Porto Cavallo (Oct. 25, 1799) (1 small medal); Trafal-
gar (Oct. 21, 1805) (3 large and 27 small medals); Action off
Ferrol (Nov. 4, 1805) (4 small medals); Action off St Domingo
(Feb. 5, 1806) (3 large and .7 small medals); Capture of Curacoa
(Jan. 1, 1807) (4 small medals); Capture of the Turkish frigate
" Badere Zaffer " by H.M.S. " Seahorse" (July 6, 1808) (1 small
medal); Capture of the French frigate "Thetis" by H.M.S.
"Amethyst" (Nov. 10, 1808) (1 small medal); Capture of the
French frigate " Furieuse " by H.M. ship-sloop " Bonne Citoyenne "
July 6, 1809 (1 small medal) ; Capture of the Island of Banda Neira
(Aug. 9, 1810) (1 small medal); Captain W. Hoste's action off
Lissa (March 13, 1811) (4 small medals); Capture of the French
74-gun ship " Rivoli " by H.M.S. " Victorious " (Feb. 22, 1812) -,
(1 small medal); The "Chesapeake" and "Shannon" (June 1,
1813) (1 small medal); Capture of the French frigate " Etoile " by
H.M.S. " Hebrus " (March 27, 1814) (1 small medal) ; Capture of the
American frigate " President " by H.M.S. " Endymion " (Jan. 15,
1 81 5) (1 small medal).
In all 22 large medals, and 117 small, were awarded; but this does
not say that all who were entitled to the medal received it. This
is most notably the case with regard to the " Glorious First of June."
When the issue was made, in 1796, the medals were given only to
those flag officers who had received gold chains, and to such captains
as were specially mentioned in Lord Howe's despatch of the 21st
of June, despite the fact that the admiral specially put it on record
that the selection therein made, " should not be construed to the
disadvantage of the other commanders, who may have been equally
8
MEDAL
deserving of the approbation of the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty, although I am not enabled to make a particular, state-
ment of their merits." For this reason the medal was never awarded
to Rear-Admiral B. Caldwell, fifth in command on the great day, to
his flag-captain, Captain G. B. Westcott, and to seven other captains
of line of battle ships engaged. One captain however, who was not
mentioned in despatches, succeeded in gaining the medal, by a
tour de force eminently characteristic of the superb breed of naval
officers that the great wars had brought into being. This was
Collingwood, who had been flag-captain to Bowyerinthe" Barfleur."
When Collingwood was awarded the medal for St Vincent, where he
commanded the " Excellent," he flatly refused to receive it unless
that for the First of June was also conferred upon him, which was
done. For St Vincent, the Nile and Trafalgar, all flag officers and
captains engaged received the medal. At the Nile, Troubridge's
ship, the " Culloden," grounded in entering the bay, and so, strictly
speaking, he was never engaged in the action; but the king specially
included him in the award, " for his services both before and since,
and for the great and wonderful exertions he made at the time of
the action, in saving and getting off his ship."
For Camperdown, one captain, afterwards found guilty by court-
martial of failure in duty, did not receive the medal. Several
posthumous awards of the smaller medals were made to the relatives
of officers who were either killed in action or died of wounds. These
were: on the first of June, Captains Hutt (" Queen "), Montagu
(" Montagu "), Harvey (" Brunswick "); at Camperdown, Captain
Burgess (" Ardent "); at the Nile, Captain Westcott (" Majestic ");
at Trafalgar, Captains Duff (" Mars ") and Cooke (" Bellerophon ").
Captain Westcott was doubly unfortunate, for he was one, of the
First of June captains who should have received the medal but did
not. Captain Miller of the " Theseus " also did not receive his medal
for the Nile, for, though not killed in the action, he perished at Acre
in an accidental powder explosion the May following, the medal
arriving after his death, and being returned to the Admiralty. In
only two cases were large medals conferred on officers below flag rank,
these being Sir R. Curtis, captain of the fleet to Lord Howe on the
First of June, and Nelson, who only flew a commodore's broad
pendant at St Vincent. Following this latter precedent Sir R.
Strachan should have had the large medal for the action of the 4th
of November 1805, for he also was a commodore, but it was denied
him for what seems quite an inadequate reason, namely that he was
junior in rank to Captain Hervey of the " Temeraire," who was the
senior of the Trafalgar captains. Hervey was promoted to rear-
admiral for Trafalgar on the 9th of November, and Strachan to the
same rank on the following day.
The small medal too was conferred in only three cases on officers
below the rank of post captain. These were Commander Mounsey
of the " Bonne Citoyenne," fqr the capture of the " Furieuse " and
Lieuts. Pilfold and Stockham, who at Trafalgar commanded respec-
tively the " Ajax " and the " Thunderer," the captains of those
two ships being at the time of the action in England giving evidence
at the court-martial of Sir Robert Calder. In all, of the eighteen
awards of the Navy Gold Medal, eight were for fleet actions (one of
which was between squadrons of frigates), seven for single ship
actions, one between line of battleships, six in which frigates were
engaged, two for shore operations (in both cases the taking of islands
from the Dutch), and lastly the re-capture of the " Hermione " by
the " Surprise." This last 'mentioned award is one particularly
memorable, not only because it was the first time that the medal
was awarded to a frigate captain, but also because it is the only case
in which the medal was awarded for boat service pure and simple.
Nelson's two great victories, the Nile and Trafalgar, also earned
a medal for all ranks that participated in them, but these awards
were not made by the Crown but by the generosity of two private
individuals, though of course with the king's approval and permis-
sion. The first of these is " Davison's Nile Medal," which Mr
Alexander Davison, Nelson's prize agent and a valued friend, caused
to be struck at a cost of near £2000, and one of which was presented
to every officer and man engaged at the Nile. The medal, 1-85 in.
in diameter, was given in gold to Nelson and his captains, in
silver to lieutenants and officers of corresponding rank, in copper
gilt to warrant and petty officers, and in copper bronze to seamen
and marines: —
Obverse: Hope, standing on a rock in the sea, holding in her
right hand an olive branch, and supporting with her left side a shield
on which is the bust of Nelson surrounded by the legend :
" EUROPE'S HOPE AND BRITAIN'S GLORY." Behind the
figure and shield is an anchor, whilst around all is inscribed:
" REAR-ADMIRAL LORD NELSON OF THE NILE." Reverse:
The French fleet at anchor in Aboukir Bay, the British fleet ad-
vancing to the attack : a setting sun denotes the time of the action.
Around: " ALMIGHTY GOD HAS BLESSED HIS MAJESTY'S
ARMS "; and, in exergue: " VICTORY OF THE NILE AUGUST
1 1798." In the reverse the engraver when sinking the die forgot
to transpose the position of the objects, and so the sun is made to set
in. the east instead of in the west, and the land which is shown on the
right should properly be on the left.
Davison's Nile medal was struck at the Soho Mint, Birmingham,
by Boulton, and it was this that probably inspired the latter to
present a medal to all who took part in the battle of Trafalgar.
" Boulton's Trafalgar Medal " was 1-9 in. in diameter, and givei
in gold to the three admirals, in silver to captains and first-lieuten
ants, and in pewter to other ranks. In a very considerable number©
cases the pewter medals were either returned, or thrown overboard
the recipients being disgusted at what they deemed the paltrines
of the reward. Obverse: A bust of Lord Nelson in uniform witl
around: HORATIO, VISCOUNT NELSON, K.B. DUKE 01
BRONTE, &c. Reverse: A representation of the battle, witl
around on a scroll: ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILI
DO HIS DUTY. In exergue: TRAFALGAR OCTr. 21 1805.
Both the Davison and the Boulton medals were worn sus-
pended from a blue ribbon. These are the only two cases ir
which officers and men of the navy and army have accepted
and worn medals presented by a private individual.
The Gold Medal given by George III. to the superior officers k
command at the battle of Maida, in Sicily, on the 4th of July 1806,
is an award of special interest, for not only was it the first
military award made by the Crown during the reign, but it wis
moreover the prototype of the superb army gold medals and
crosses which were so widely distributed during the years that fol-
lowed. A general order of the duke of York, commander-in-chief,
dated Horse Guards, 22nd of February 1808, awarded a gold
medal for Maida to Sir John Stuart, K.B., his three brigadiers,
and nine other officers. Subsequently four other officers
received it, so in all seventeen officers received the award.
It was prescribed that the medal " should be worn suspended
by a Ribband of the colour of the Sash, with a blue edge, from
a button of the coat on the left side." It was in fact to be worn
in the same way as the small Navy Gold Medal, and as this
grant established blue and white as the specific navy ribbon,
so did the Maida award establish red with a blue border as the
regulation military ribbon. The Maida ribbon is in fact precisely
the same as the Waterloo ribbon shown in Plate I. The Maida
medal was 1-5 in. in diameter and struck in gold only. It
was issued precisely alike, quite irrespective of rank, to each of
its seventeen recipients.
Obverse: Head of George III., laureated and facing left, with
below the legend: GEORGIUS TERTIUS REX. Reverse:
Britannia casting a spear with her right hand, and on her left arm
the Union shield, above, and approaching her is a Flying Victory
holding out a wreath. In front of Britannia in four lines, is MAI/
DA/IVL IV/MDCCCVI/; behind her the triquetra or tri'nacria, the
symbol of the Island of Sicily. In the exergue are crossed spears.
Two and a half years after the Maida award the king author-
ized the "Army Gold Medal," the first grant of which was
notified by the commander-in-chief, in a Horse Guards general
order dated the 9th of September 1810. This authorized the
bestowal of the medal on 107 senior officers mentioned by name.
The battles commemorated were Roleia, Vimiera (1808), the
cavalry actions of Sahagun and Benevente (1808), Corunha
and Talavera (1809). The Army Gold Medal so awarded was
in two sizes, large, 2-1 in. in diameter, for general officers,
small, 1-3 in. in diameter, for officers of lower rank: and the
regulations provided that it should be worn from a red ribbon
edged with blue, the larger round the neck, the smaller on the
left breast from a button-hole of the uniform. The ribbon
was the same width, if for both ribbons, and precisely the
same later on for the Gold Cross. Both large and small medals
were of identical design, in fact there was no difference, either
in medals or in ribbons, except in size and the style in which
they were worn : —
Obverse: Britannia seated on a globe, holding in her right hand
a laurel wreath, and in her left, which rests upon a Union shield
resting against the globe, a palm leaf; at her feet to her right, a liba.
Reverse: A wreath of laurel, encircling the name of the battle or
operations for which the medal was granted.
In the following years subsequent orders similar to the
original grant extended the award of the Army Gold Medal,
until eventually twenty-four distinct awards were made, com-
memorating twenty-six actions, or series of operations, which
took place not only in the Peninsula, but also in North America,
and both the East and the West Indies.
The Peninsula medals were for Roleia and Vimiera, Sahagun
and Benevente, Corunna, Talavera, Busaco, Barrosa, Fuentes
d'Orior, Albuera, Ciudad Rodrigo (1812), Badajoz (i8ii*i
MEDAL
Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, St Sebastian, Nivelle, Nive,
Orthes, Toulouse. The West Indies medals were for Martinique
(Feb. 1809) and Gaudaloupe (Jan.-Feb. 1810), the North
American for Fort Detroit (Aug. 16, 1812), Chateauguay (Oct.
26, 1813) and Chrystler's Farm (Nov. 11, 1813), and there
was, lastly, a medal awarded for Java (Aug.-Sept. 181 1).
From the above it will be seen that as time went on many
officers became entitled to two, three and even more medals,
and as this was found inconvenient, the method of granting
the award was very materially amended as notified by the
commander-in-chief, ir. a general order, dated Horse Guards,
October 7, 1813. This order formulated regulations which were
as follows: —
1. That one medal only was to be borne by each officer recom-
mended for the distinction.
2. That for a second and a third action a gold clasp was to be
attached to the ribbon from which the medal was suspended inscribed
with the name of the action.
3. When a fourth distinction was earned, the medal and two
clasps were to be replaced by a Gold Cross having the four actions
for which it was awarded inscribed upon it, one upon each arm.
4. On every occasion the recipient was awarded the decoration
after the fourth a Gold Clasp worn on the ribband was added to the
Cross.
The regulations further laid down that only officers should
be recommended who had been " personally and particularly
engaged " on the occasion, and that officers were to be named
by " special selection and report of the Commander of the
Forces upon the spot, as having merited the distinction by
conspicuous service Further, the Commander of the Forces
was restricted in his selection to General Officers, C.Os. of
Brigades, C.Os. of Artillery or Engineers, and certain staff
officers holding field rank, and Commanding Officers of Units,
and Officers succeeding to such command during an engagement. 1
It was also ordered that awards earned by deceased officers
should be transmitted "to their respective families." The
Gold Cross that was, under these regulations, instituted is as
follows: —
A Maltese Cross, I J inches square, with an ornamental border;
in the centre, a lion, facing right ; in each limb of the cross the name
of one of the actions for which it was conferred. The back of the
cross is the same as the front. The cross was precisely the same
irrespective of whether it replaced a large or a small medal.
The clasps were all of the same pattern, whether worn with
the cross, the large gold medal, or the small gold medal. They
are 2 in. in length by § in. in width, and bear, within a border
of laurel, the name of the action for which they were conferred.
At the close of the war in the Peninsula the issue of this handsome
and much coveted decoration was discontinued, the enlargement
of the Order of the Bath (January 1815) affording another
method of reward which the Crown deemed more appropriate.
On the occasion of this extension all officers who had obtained
the cross with one clasp, i.e. who had been decorated for five
or more actions, were made Knights Commander of the Bath.
In all 847 awards of this superb decoration were made. The
medal alone went to 469 officers, whilst 143 received it with
one clasp, and 72 with two clasps. The cross was issued singly
in 61 cases, with one clasp in 46, with two in 18, with three in
17, with four in 8, and with five clasps in 7 cases. The cross
with six clasps was gained by Sir Colin Campbell (Lord Clyde),
Sir Alexander Dickson (d. 1840) and Sir George Murray (d. 1846).
Two officers, Viscount Beresford and Sir Denis Pack (d. 1823)
received it with seven clasps. The duke of Wellington's had
nine, the decoration thus commemorating fourteen out of the
twenty-six battles, sieges or operations for which the Gold
Medals, Cross and Clasps were awarded. On the limbs of this
cross are, ROLEIA AND VIMIERA, TALAVERA, BUSACO,
FUENTES DE ONOR. The clasps are for CITJDAD ROD-
RIGO, BADAJOZ, SALAMANCA, VITTORIA, PYRENEES,
NIVELLE, NIVE, ORTHES and TOULOUSE. Not until
1 Captain Sayers of the royal navy, who commanded the " Leda "
36, and landed in command of the 500 seamen who erected and
manned the batteries for the attack of Fort Cornells, received the
small medal for Java. This is the only case of the Army Gold Medal
having been conferred on a naval officer.
after the close of the Great War, however, do we meet with
the real prototype of the war medal as we know it to-day; for
the Waterloo Medal of 1815 is the first actual "general"
medal that was ever issued, because it was issued precisely
alike to all ranks. In the twelve cases in which we have seen
that a medal was given to all ranks, the medals differed either
in size or in metal, or in both, according to the rank of the
recipient, and in eight out of the nine issued by the Hon. East
India Company the award was withheld from the British officers
and men employed. Again in none of the cases quoted were
the awards made by the Crown. The " Dunbar " medal was
awarded by the Commonwealth parliament. The men of the
Nile and Trafalgar wore their medals through the generosity
of private individuals. In the other nine cases the award was
made by the directors of the, Hon. East India Company. It
was with the issue of the Waterloo Medal that all this was
changed and for this well-merited and much prized boon the
Services owe all gratitude to the duke of Wellington. Writing
from Orville on June 28, 181 5, to H.R.H. the duke of York,
he says: —
" I would likewise beg leave to suggest to your Royal Highness
(the then Commander-in-chief) the expediency of giving to the non-
commissioned officers and soldiers engaged in the battle of Waterloo,
a medal. I am convinced it would have the best effect in the army ;
and, if that battle should settle our concerns, they will well deserve
it."
Again, writing from Paris, Sept. 17, 1815, to Lord Bathurst,
then war secretary: —
" I have long intended to write to you about the medal for Water-
loo. I recommend that we should all have the same medal, hung
to the same ribband as that now used with the medals."
{i.e. the army gold medals and crosses). It is also fair to point
out that in his place in the House of Commons, and on the
day after the duke's letter to the commander-in-chief had been
penned, William Watkins Wynn urged that medals should
be given to the survivors of Waterloo, and that they should
be the same for both officers and men, " so that they who had
been fellows in danger might bear the same badge of honour."
And so came into being that type of " general " medal, which
beginning with Waterloo has continued down to the present.
The description of these later medals, and the points of
interest about them, will now be given as fully as exigencies
of space will allow.
1. Waterloo, 1815. — Awarded by the Prince Regent, 1816. Ob-
verse: Bust of the Prince Regent. Leg. GEORGE P. REGENT.
Reverse: Figure of Victory seated; in her right hand, a palm branch;
in her left, an olive branch. Above, WELLINGTON; below,
WATERLOO, JUNE 18, 1815. Ribbon: Crimson with blue borders
(Place I.).. Clasps: Nil.
The notification of this award was made in a memorandum by
H.R.H. the commander-in-chief, dated Horse Guards, March 10,
1816, and it is worth noting that the prince regent commanded that
the ribbon " shall never be worn but with the medal suspended to it."
The medal was conferred on all the British troops, including the
King's German Legion, present on the 16th June at Quatre Bras,
on the 17th in the fighting that took place during the retirement
through Genappe to Waterloo, and on the 18th at Waterloo. It was
also given to four regiments, 2nd Batt. 35th, 1st Batt. 54th, 2nd Batt.
59th, and 1st Batt. 91st Regiments of Foot, which formed Sir Charles
Colville's Brigade, which was detached. The reverse of this medal
would appear to have been copied from the Greek Coin of Elis, about
450 B.C., a specimen of which is in the British Museum. The medals
most prized by collectors are those of the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Dragoons
(the " Union Brigade "), and the 28th and 42nd Regiments of Foot,
as those regiments suffered very severely and consequently fewer
survivors received the medal than in other corps.
2. Ghuznee, 1839. — Awarded by the Government of India, 1842.
Obverse: The Gateway of the Fortress. Below, GHUZNEE.
Reverse: In centre a space for name of recipient; above, 23rd July;
below, a mural crown with underneath it 1839; the whole within
a wreath of laurel. Ribbon: Particoloured, crimson and green
(Plate I.). Clasps: Nil.
This medal originated with Shah Soojah, whose part the Indian
government took in the Afghan troubles of the time. His downfall
and death having taken place before the medals were ready, the
actual award was made by the Government of India. It was origin-
ally ordered (Bengal Military Proceedings, May 27, 1842; Nos. 151
and 152) that the ribbon should be green and yellow, and it was
undoubtedly so worn by some recipients; but there is no official
record to show why the colours were altered to green and crimson,
IO
MEDAL
The medal was awarded to all troops both of the Crown and of the
Company that were actually present at the siege and capture of the
fortress, July 21,22, and 23, 1839.
3. Syria, 1840. — Awarded by the Sultan of Turkey, 1 841. Obverse:
A fortress on which the Turkish flag is flying, and above six stars ;
below, in Turkish, " The People of Syria; and the Citadel of Acre,
A.H. 1258." Reverse: Cypher of the Sultan, within a laurel wreath.
Ribbon : Red with white edges. Clasps : Nil.
The St Jean d'Acre medal, as it is commonly called, was awarded
to the officers and men of the British fleet that were engaged in the
operations off the coast of Syria, against Mehemet Ali, which culmin-
ated in the bombardment and capture of St Jean d Acre; Nov. 3, 1840.
The medal, if in. in diameter, is purely a naval medal therefore,
although a few artillery and engineer officers doing duty in the fleet
received it. It was given in gold to officers of flag rank and captains
(or field officers), in silver to quarter-deck and warrant officers, and
in copper to other ranks. This is the only instance of there being a
difference made according to the rank of the recipient since the
" Burma " medal.
4. China, 1840-42 (1st Medal); China, 1857-60 (2nd Medal).
— -Awarded by Queen Victoria, 1842, 1861. Obverse: Head of
Queen Victoria, diademed, 1. Leg. VICTORIA REGINA. Reverse:
Naval and military trophy, with behind a palm tree, and in
front a shield of the Royal Arms. Above, ARM IS EXPOSCERE
PACEM. In exergue, CHINA 1842. 1 Ribbon: Red with yellow
borders (Plate I.). Clasps: 1st medal, nil; 2nd medal, six —
CHINA 1842; FATSHAN 1857 2 ; CANTON 1857; TAKU FORTS
1858 s ; TAKU FORTS i860; PEKIN i860.
The first China medal was awarded to all the naval and military
forces, both of the Crown and of the Hon. East India Company, that
took part in the first China War, 1840-42. Another medal was
struck, and is to be found in proof, but it was never issued as it was
deemed it might give offence to China. Of this the obverse is the
same as that described above; but the reverse had, under the same
motto, the British lion trampling upon the Chinese dragon, and
in the exergue, NANKING 1842. The second China medal was
similarly awarded to both the naval and military forces, British and
Indian, that took part in the second China war, 1857-60. To those,
however, who were already in possession of the first China medai
the second medal was not awarded, they receiving a clasp CHINA
1842 to go on their original medal, together of course with the clasps
to which their services in the second war had entitled them. The
second medal was in fact not a new decoration but a re-issue. The
first China medal was the first to be issued with the effigy of Queen
Victoria upon it. The first medal with clasps for the second China
war is very rare, and in almost every case would probably be found
to be a naval medal. Of the second medal only one was issued
with all the five new clasps. This was to a Royal Marine Artillery-
man, and it is now in the Cheylesmore collection. Medals specially
valued by collectors are those given to the 1st Dragoon Guards with
the two clasps TAKU FORTS i860 and PEKIN i860, as only two
squadrons of the regiment were present. In a G.O. by Lord Ellen-
borough, governor-general of India, dated Simla, Oct. 14, 1842, it
was intimated that the Government of India would present to the
Indian Army a medal, the design of which was indicated in the order,
but this idea was of course abandoned when the queen intimated
her intention of making the award.
5. Jellalabad, 1842. — Awarded by the Government of India, 1842.
First medal — Obverse: A mural crown; above, JELLALABAD.
Reverse: VII April 1842. Second medal — Obverse: Head of
Queen Victoria as in China medal, but legend, VICTORIA VINDEX.
Reverse : Figure of Victory flying, in her right hand two wreaths,
in her left the British flag. Beneath, the town of Jellalabad. Above,
JELLALABAD VII APRIL: in exergue, MDCCCXLII. Ribbon
(both medals): Military ribbon of India (Plate I.). Clasps: Nil.
In a G.O., dated Allahabad, April 30, 1842, Lord Ellenborough
announced that the Government of India would present a medal
to the Company's troops, and with the consent of Her Majesty,
to those of the Crown, that held Jellalabad, under Sir Robert Sale
(Nov. 12, 1842 — April 7, 1842). The queen's consent to her troops
(13th Foot, now Somersetshire Light Infantry) receiving the medal
was granted in August. The governor-general being dissatisfied
with the first medal, made at the Calcutta Mint, the second (generally
known as the " Flying Victory ") was ordered in England, and it
was notified that on their arrival the first medals, all of which had
been distributed, could be exchanged for the second. The new issue
was ready by March 13, 1845, but the recipients apparently preferred
the original medals, for very few were exchanged. Both are very
rare, for only 2596 medals were issued. The " military ribbon of
India " is a tri-colour composed of the three primary colours shading
into one another. It was designed by Lord Ellenborough, and is
intended to symbolize an Oriental sunrise.
6. Afghanistan, 1842 (1st Afghan). — Awarded by Government
of India. 1842. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria as on First
China Medal. Reverse: No. I. CANDAHAR 1842 within a laurel
wreath; above, a crown. No. 2. GHUZNEE CABUL each within
a laurel wreath ; above, a crown ; below, 1842. No. 3. CANDAHAR
1 The second medal has no date.
' Royal Navy and Royal Marines only.
GHUZNEE CABUL 1842 all within a laurel wreath ; above, a crown.
No. 4. CABUL 1842 within a laurel wreath ; above, a crown. Ribbon:
Military ribbon of India (Plate I.). Clasps: Nil.
The authority for this medal is a G.O. of the governor-general dated
October 4, 1842. It was awarded to all troops, both of the Crown
and the Hon. East India Company, who took part in the operations
in Afghanistan in 1842, that is to say the second phase of the First
Afghan War. The medal, with reverses 1, 2 and 3, was awarded
to those troops that were with Major-General Sir William Nott in
Candahar, and took part in the operations around that place, re-
captured Ghuznee, and then joined hands with the column under
Major-General Pollock at Cabul. The medal with reverse 4 was
awarded to the column which advanced from Peshawur on Cabul,
being joined en route by the victorious garrison at Jellalabad. This
is the first of the four occasions on which the reverse of a medal has
been used to denote the actual part taken in the operations by the
recipient, in the manner that is now done by clasps. Of these
medals the one with the No. 1 reverse is the rarest, as its issue was
confined to the small portion of his army that Major-General Nott
left behind him in Candahar. The medal with the No. 2 reverse
is also rare, as its distribution was very limited.
7. Kelat-i-Ghilzie, 1842. — Awarded by Government of India, 1842.
Obverse: A shield inscribed KELAT I GHILZIE encircled by a
laurel wreath, and surmounted by a mural crown. Reverse- A
military trophy, beneath, on a tablet, INVICTA MDCCCXLII.
Ribbon: Military ribbon of India (Plate I.). Clasps: Nil.
The authority for this medal is the same as that for the First
Afghan Medal, and the medal itself was awarded to the troops of
the Hon. East India Company, which defended this hill fortress for
several months, and finally, before they were eventually relieved
from Candahar utterly routed and drove off a force of four thousand
men. As the medal was given only to 950 in all (forty being
European artillerymen, the remainder native troops), it is naturally
very scarce.
8. Sinde, 1843. — Awarded by Queen Victoria to the forces of the
Crown, and by the Government of India to the troops of the Company.
Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria as on First China Medal. Reverse:
1. MEEANEE 1843. 2. HYDERABAD 1843. 3. MEEANEE
HYDERABAD 1843. In each case the inscription is surrounded
by a laurel wreath, and surmounted by a crown. Ribbon: Military
ribbon of India (Plate I.). Clasps: Nil.
The award of a medal for Sir Charles Napier's conquest of Sinde
was first notified, as far as the troops of the Crown were concerned,
by a letter from Lord Stanley, then war secretary, to the president
of the India Board, dated July 18, 1843, and it is worth noting that
this is the only instance of any medals for Indian service being paid
for by the Crown. The notification of a similar award by the Govern-
ment of India to their own troops, followed in a G.O. by the governor-
general, dated September 22, 1843. The award was confined to
those who had been present at either Meeanee or Hyderabad, and
the medals were issued according as to which actions the recipient
had been present, no one of course receiving more than one medal
for the campaign. In addition to the land forces of the Hon. East
India Company, the medal was also given to the naval officers and
crews of the Company's flotilla on the Indus. The only Crown
regiment that received this medal was the 22nd Foot.
9. Gwalior, 1843 (" Maharajpoor " and " Punniar " Stars). —
Awarded by the Government of India, 1844. This decoration took
the form of a bronze star of six points, 2 in. in diameter. Obverse:
In centre a silver star, if in. in diameter, around the centre of
which is a circle in which is inscribed either MAHARAJPOOR 1843
or PUNNIAR 1843, and in centre of circle the date 29th DECR.
Reverse: Plain for name and regiment, or corps, of recipient.
Ribbon: Military ribbon of India (Plate I.). Clasps: Nil.
The award of a medal to the troops of the Crown and the Hon.
East India Company engaged in the Gwalior Campaign of 1843
was first notified in governor-general's G.O., dated Camp, Gwalior
Residency, January 4, 1844; and the queen's permission for it to
be worn by Crown troops given June 26, 1844. The force moved
in two columns, the main and larger under Sir Hugh (Viscount)
Gough, the smaller under Major-General Gray. Each force fought
an action on the same day, December 29, 1843, the former at Maharaj-
poor, the latter at Punniar, and the star was inscribed according to
which action the recipient was engaged. The stars were manu-
factured from the metal of the captured guns. The star given to
Sir Hugh Gough had in the centre a silver elephant in lieu of a silver
star, and it was originally intended that all should be the same, but
the silver star was substituted for reasons of economy. As there
were fewer troops at Punniar that star is of course the more un-
common.
10. Sutlej, 1845-46 (1st Sikh War). — Awarded by Government
of India, 1845. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria as on First China
Medal. Reverse: Figure of Victory, standing, with in right hand
outstretched a wreath, in left a palm branch ; at her feet a trophy
of captured Sikh weapons and armour. In exergue, name and year
of the first battle of the war in which recipient was engaged. These
inscriptions are four, viz. MOODKEE 1845, FEROZESHUHUR
1845, ALIWAL 1846, SOBRAON 1846. Ribbon: Blue with
crimson borders (Plate I.). Clasps: FEROZESHUHUR, ALIWAL,
SOBRAON.
MEDAL
ii
This award, given to all the troops, both Crown and Hon. East
India Company engaged in the First Sikh War, was first notified
in governor-general's CO., dated Camp, Ferozepore, December 25,
1845, the queen's consent for Crown troops to receive the medal
being given six months later. As there was a considerable number
of troops engaged in this campaign, the medal is not a very rare one,
but a very rare combination is the medal with Ferozeshuhur in the
exergue and the clasp for Aliwal, as only half a company of native
artillery was present in these two battles and in no other. This
is a specially noticeable medal, for it is the first time that " clasps "
were issued with a " general " medal, the precedent followed being
that of the Army Gold Medal. For every action after his first battle,
which was inscribed on the medal itself, the recipient received a clasp.
Thus a medal with " Moodkee " in the exergue might carry one,
two or three clasps; a " Sobraon " medal could have no clasps.
This and the " Punjab " medal, to be described later, are generally
considered to be the two finest pieces of medal work by W. Wyon,
R.A.
11. Navy General Service, 1793-1840. — Awarded by Queen
Victoria, 1847. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria as on First China
Medal; under head, 1848. Reverse: Britannia seated on a sea
horse; in her right-hand, a trident; in her left, a laurel branch.
Ribbon: White, with dark blue borders (Plate I.). Clasps: 231
clasps in all were granted, of which 55 were for " Boat Service."
An Admiralty memorandum dated June I, 1847, notified the grant
of this award to commemorate the services of the fleet " during the
wars commencing in 1793 and ending in 1815," and this practically
confined the award to those operations for which the Navy Gold
Medal (see ante) had been conferred. Subsequently, however, a
board of admirals was appointed to consider claims, and on their
recommendation an Admiralty memorandum dated June 7, 1848,
extended the grant. Clasps were to be given for: (1) All Gold Medal
actions or operations. (2) AH actions in which first lieutenants or
commanders were promoted, as had been customary after important
and meritorious engagements. (3) All " Boat Service " operations
in which the officer conducting the operations was promoted. (4)
For, in co-operation with the land forces, the siege and capture of
Martinique, 1809, Guadaloupe, 1810, Java, 181 1, and St Sebastian,
1813, for all of which operations the Army Gold Medal had been
awarded; and (5) The Bombardment of Algiers, 1816; the Battle
of Navarino, 1827; and operations on the coast of Syria, 1840.
Although the medal is purely a naval one, yet it was conferred
on a few soldiers who had done duty in the fleet in actions or opera-
tions, for which the medal was granted. Forty military officers
in all received the Navy G.S. medal, one, Captain Caleb Chute,
69th Foot, with two clasps, viz. " 14th March, 1795 " and " St
Vincent." It is very difficult to compile an absolutely accurate
list of all the clasps issued, for in several cases more than one clasp
was given for the same action, and there were moreover nine or ten
clasps allowed for which no claims appear to have been made good.
The combination of the clasps is endless, but it is curious to note
that medals with more than one, or two clasps are rare ; with four
or five clasps, very rare; and the highest number of clasps issued
with any one medal is six. Amongst very rare clasps the follow-
ing may be mentioned. One survivor only, Lieut. Baugh, the
officer in command, was alive to claim the clasp " Rapid, 24th April,
1808." Only two claims were proved for "Surly, 24th April, 1810";
six for "Castor, 17th June, 1809" ; seven for "Amazon, 13th January,
1797"; eight for "Confiance, 14th January, 1809"; and ten for
" Acheron, 3rd February, 1805." Of " Boat Service " clasps only
three were claimed for "20th December, 1799"; four for "9th
June, 1799"; and eight for "10th July, 1799." (All "Boat
Service " clasps are inscribed " Boat Service " with the day and
month on the left, and the year on the right.) In all nearly thirty
thousand claims were proved for the medal.
12. Army General Service, 1793-18 14. — Awarded by Queen
Victoria, 1847. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria as on First China
Medal; under head, 1848. Reverse: Queen Victoria on a dais
is placing a wreath on the head of the duke of Wellington, who kneels
on his left knee before her, holding in his right hand the baton of a
Field Marshal; at the side of the dais is a lion dormant. Legend:
TO THE BRITISH ARMY. In exergue: 1793-1814. Ribbon:
Crimson with blue borders (Plate I.). Clasps: EGYPT, MAIDA,
ROLEIA, VIMIERA, SAHAGUN,* BENEVENTE, 1 SAHAGUN-
BENEVENTE, 1 CORUNNA, MARTINIQUE, 2 TALAVERA,
GUADALOUPE, 2 BUSACO, BARROSA, FUENTES D'ONOR,
ALBUHERA, JAVA, 2 CIUDAD RODRIGO, BADAJOZ, SALA-
MANCA, FORT DETROIT, CHATEAUGUAY, CHRYSTLER'S
FARM, VITTORIA, PYRENEES, ST SEBASTIAN, 2 NIVELLE,
NIVE, ORTHES, TOULOUSE.
This medal, frequently erroneously termed the " Peninsular War "
medal, was awarded to the survivors of the military forces of the
Crown that had taken part in the Peninsular War, and in contem-
poraneous operations in other parts of the world; it was also given
with the clasp " Java " to the European troops of the Hon. East
India Company; with the clasps " Martinique " and " Guadaloupe "
to certain local West Indian Corps; and with the clasps " Fort
1 Whether in one or both actions, only one clasp awarded.
2 A similar clasp was given with the Navy G.S. medal.
Detroit," " Chateauguay," and " Chrystler's Farm," to some Cana-
dian militia and local levies, as well as to some Indian auxiliaries.
The award of the medal, and all the clasps except " Egypt," bear
date June I, 1847, but the clasp " Egypt " was not granted till
February 12, 1850. Although the medal is supposed to com-
memorate services "during the wars commencing in 1793, and ending
in 18 14," the earliest operations for which the medal was awarded
did not take place until 1801. No medal was issued without a clasp,
and as will be seen the medal was awarded only for those actions
or operations for which the Army Gold Medals (including that for
Maida) had been awarded; and in addition for the operations in
Egypt in 1801. The combination of clasps is endless but only
two medals were issued with fifteen clasps, though several survivors
proved their claim to fourteen clasps. In fact medals with seven,
eight or nine clasps are not common, those with ten, or more, dis-
tinctly rare. For example, taking only medals issued to officers
(including those of the King's German Legion), three were issued
with 14 clasps, three with 13, nine with 12, twelve with II, thirty-six
with 10, fifty-eight with 9, ninety with 8, and one hundred and four-
teen with 7. By far the rarest of all clasps is " Benevente," as
according to the War Office lists only three would appear to have
been issued, viz. to Captain Evelegh, R.H.A., Pte. G. Barrett, 10th
Hussars, and Pte. M. Gilmour, 18th Hussars, although a medal with
this clasp having every appearance of being genuine and issued
to Pte. William Lyne, 7th Hussars, was in the collection of Colonel
Murray of Polmaise. Sahagun also is a very rare clasp, as it was
received only by fifteen men of the 15th Hussars and a few others.
The three North American clasps are also very rare, especially
Chateauguay. Leaving out awards to Indian warriors, the statistics
regarding the issue of the North American clasps are approximately
as follows. At Chateauguay some 300 men fought, and 132 survivors
proved for the clasp, of which a-11 except three of the Royal Artillery
were Canadians. For Chrystler's Farm, the next rarest clasp, out
of about 800 engaged 176 claims were proved: viz. 79 of the 89th
Foot, 59 Canadians, 44 of the 49th Foot, and 4 Royal Artillery. At
Fort Detroit, 1330 men were engaged, and those who proved for the
clasp included 210 Canadians, 52 of the 41st Foot, 5 Royal Artillery,
and one man of the 41st Foot (who also got the clasp for Chrystler's
Farm). One man proved for all three clasps, another for " Fort
Detroit " and "Chateauguay," a third for "Chateauguay" and
" Chrystler's Farm." The former medal is said to be in the cabinet
of a New York collector. Two " regulars " also proved for the medal
with clasps for " Fort Detroit " and " Chrystler's Farm," the one
belonging to the Royal Artillery, the other to the 49th Foot. The
medal of the former sold at the Greg sale, in 1887, for £25 10s.
13. Punjab, 1848-49 (2nd Sikh War). — Awarded by Government
of India, 1849. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria as in First
China Medal. Reverse: Sikh chiefs delivering up their arms to
Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert, near Rawal Pindi, March 14, 1849. Above,
TO THE ARMY OF THE PUNJAB. In exergue, MDCCCXLIX.
Ribbon: Blue with yellow stripes at side (Plate I.). Clasps:
MOOLTAN, CHILIANWALA, GOOJERAT.
The aw.ard of this medal was first notified by a G.O. of the governor-
general, dated Camp, Ferozepore, April 2, 1849. The medal is one
of special interest, for it establishes the principle that now rules,
viz. that every one participating in a campaign (including for the
first time civilians) was entitled to receive the medal, apart from
those who received the medal together with a clasp for a specific
action. The medal in fact was granted "to every officer and soldier
who has been employed within the Punjab in this campaign to the
date of the occupation of Peshawur." In other words it was granted
to all who had served " during this campaign within the territories
of Maharajah Duleep Sing," irrespective of whether they had qualified
for any of the clasps. A very large number of medals was therefore
issued without clasps. Another interesting point about this award
is that after its grant it was laid down that in future no medals were
to be issued by the Government of India without the consent of the
Crown. As a matter of fact the Government of India was for the
future only concerned in the grant of the two medals that followed,
namely the First and Second India General Service Medals. No
medals were issued with more than two of the three clasps, the com-
bination being either "Mooltan" and "Goojerat" or "Chilianwala"
and " Goojerat." Very rare medals are those of the 24th Foot with
the clasp for " Chilianwala," as in that action they lost more than
half their strength, their casualties amounting to 497, of whom 250
were killed or died of wounds. Another rare medal is that given
without a clasp to the officers and men of the Indian Marine thflt
manned the Indus Flotilla; and more rare still is the same medal
with the " Mooltan " clasp which was given to a naval brigade landed
from the same flotilla.
14. India, 1 799-1826 (1st India G.S., officially styled " India,
1851 "). — Awarded by the Government of India, 1851. Obverse:
Head of Queen Victoria as in First China Medal. Reverse : Victory
seated, in her right hand a laurel branch, in her left a wreath; on
the ground beside her a lotus flower, and in the left background a
palm tree and trophy of Eastern arms. Above, TO THE ARMY
OF INDIA. In exergue, I799-1826. Kibbon: Sky blue (Plate I.).
Clasps: ALLIGHUR, BATTLE " OF DELHI, ASSYE, AS-
SEERGHUR, LASWARREE, ARGAUM, GAWILGHUR,
DEFENCE OF DELHI, BATTLE OF DEIG, CAPTURE OP
12
MEDAL
DEIG, NEPAUL, KIRKEE, 1 POONA, 1 KIRKEE-POONA, 1
SEETABULDEE, 1 NAGPORE, 1 SEETABULDEE-NAGPORE, 1
MAHEIDPOOR, CORYGAUM, AVA, BHURTPOOR.
This medal was awarded " to the surviving officers and soldiers
of the Crown and of the East India Company " who took part in any
one of seventeen specified actions and operations which occurred
in India, Nepaul and Burma, during the first twenty-five years of
the 19th century, " including the officers and seamen of the Royal
Navy and the Company's Marine who took part in the first Burmese
War." The queen's consent to the grant of this medal was an-
nounced in the London Gazette by a Notice of the Court of Directors,
dated March 21, 185 1. It was subsequently notified to the British
Army by a Horse Guards G.O., dated March 21, 1851 ; to the Royal
Navy by an Admiralty memorandum of the same date; and to the
Army in India by a governor-general's G.O., dated April 14, 1851.
In this medal again there is a discrepancy in dating, for though it
is dated 1799-1826, the first action for which it was awarded, the
storming of Allighur, took place on September 24, 1803. No medals
were issued without clasps, the largest combination of clasps known
being five. According to the India Office records there were ap-
parently men entitled to as many as seven clasps, but whether any
medal was issued with more than five is very doubtful. That
awarded to the duke of Wellington had three clasps, " Assye,"
" Argaum " and " Gawilghur." With the exception of medals
issued with the Ava and Bhurtpore clasps, this medal is a rare one,
and with a large number of the clasps, all except perhaps those for
Nepaul and Maheidpore, an extremely rare one. The rarest of all
is " Seetabuldee," as only two Europeans and two natives are known
to have received it. " Defence of Delhi " is also a very rare clasp,
as the garrison only comprised two weak battalions of native infantry ;
as is also " Corygaum, ' which was issued to only two Europeans,
" both officers," and seventy-five natives. The only European
troops present at Corygaum were an officer and twenty-six men of
the Madras Artillery, of whom the officer and twelve men were
killed and eight wounded. As the " Burma " medal had already
been given to the . Company's native officers and soldiers for the
First Burmese War, only the European officers and men of the
Company's service received the medal with " Ava " clasp; but as
the " Nepaul " medal had not been given to all the native troops
who actually served " within the hills," the medal with clasp
" Nepaul " was granted to those native troops who had not
received the Nepaul medal, as well as to all the Company's
European officers and men.
15. India, 1852-95 (2nd India G.S., officially styled " India,
1854 "). — Awarded by the Government of India as far as the first
two issues with their clasps are concerned, all subsequent issues and
clasps, with the exception of the last two, by Queen Victoria; the
last two issues and clasps by King Edward VII. Obverse: Head
of Queen Victoria as in First China Medal. Reverse: Victory
standing, crowning a naked warrior sitting. In exergue, a lotus
flower and leaves, symbolizing the connexion of the medal with India.
Ribbon: Red, with two blue stripes, forming five J-inch stripes
(Plate I.). Clasps: PEGU, 2 PERSIA, 2 NORTH-WEST FRONTIER,
UMBEYLA, BHOOTAN, LOOSHAI, PERAK 1875-76, 2 JOWAKI
1877-78, NAGA 1879-80, BURMA 1885-87, 2 SIKKIM 1888,
HA2ARA 1888, BURMA 1887-89, CHIN-LOOSHAI 1889-90,
SAMANA 1891, HAZARA 1891, N.E. FRONTIER 1891, HUNZA
1891, BURMA 1889-92, LUSHAI i889-92,WAZIRISTAN 1894-95,
CHIN HILLS 1892-93, KACHIN HILLS 1892-93.
The queen's assent to this award, to those of H.M.'s Sea and Land
Forces, as well as those belonging to the East India Company's
Establishment engaged in the Second Burmese War, was first
made known to the Government of India in a letter from the Court
of Directors, April 6, 1853. In a Minute by Lord Dalhousie, the
governor-general, December 9, 1852, it had been suggested " whether
it would not be better for the future, instead of issuing a separate
Medal for each campaign, to have one Medal, such as the ' Indian
Medal ' (i.e. the ' India, 1851 ' Medal), which should be issued once
to each individual entitled : the particular service for which it is
granted being recorded upon a Bar, and every subsequent service
which may be thought to deserve distinction being recorded by an
additional Bar. This plan would avoid the multiplication of Medals,
which has accumulated of late years, which I humbly think is
undesirable." In another letter from the Court of Directors to the
Government of India, March 1, 1854, this suggestion is approved,
and it was ordered that after " a suitable design " had been procured
(L. C. Wyon designed the reverse), "the Medal to be now struck
shall be of a general character, the particular service for which it
is now granted, viz. ' Pegu,' being recorded on a Bar. In the event
of the same soldiers being entitled hereafter to another similar
distinction, the service will be recorded by an additional Bar to the
same Medal." Occasional mistakes have however been made, for,
since the issue with the clasp for the Perak campaign, from which
time it has become customary to date the clasp, many instances
have occurred of men having received two medals with clasps for
different campaigns. The issue to the Persian Expeditionary Force
1 Whether in one or both actions, only one clasp awarded.
2 The Royal Navy or Indian Marine, or both, received the medal
with these clasps.
(1856-1857), with the clasp " Persia," was awarded by the Court of
Directors January 19, 1858, and sanctioned by the queen in the same
month. The first issue of the medal by the Crown was authorized
April 15, 1859, with the clasps " North- West Frontier " and " Um-
beyla," the former covering various expeditions between 1849 and
1863, the latter the hard-fought Umbeyla Campaign of the latter
mentioned year. All subsequent issues of the award were made by
Queen Victoria, with the exception of those that carried with them
the clasps " Chin Hill 1892-93," and " Kachin Hills 1892^93,"
which were only awarded ten years afterwards by King Edward VII.,
and notified in Army Order 9 of January 1903; the medal, which
had meantime been superseded by the Third India G.S. medal
described below, being re-issued with these last two clasps. The
combination of clasps with this medal is very numerous, but medals
with more than two or three clasps are rare. Seven is probably
the greatest number awarded with any one medal, arid a medal with
this number, viz. "Umbeyla," " North- West Frontier," " Jowaki
1877-78," "Burma 1885-87," " Hazara 1888," " Samana 1891,"
and Hunza 1891," was granted to Bhanga Singh, Sardar
Bahadur, who retired as Subadar-Major of No. 4 (Derajat) Mountain
Battery. Sir William Lockhart (q.v.) had the medal with six clasps.
The rarest of all the clasps is probably " Hunza 1891," as less than
a thousand men were employed, and the majority of these were
Cashmere Imperial Service Troops. No European troops received
the clasps, " Looshai," " Naga 1879-80," or " Hunza 1891."
" Sikkim 1888 " is also a rare clasp as only some 2000 troops were
employed, the only Europeans being two companies of the 2nd
Derbyshire Regiment. So also is " N.E. Frontier 1891," for in the
Manipur expedition for which this clasp was given about 3000 men
were employed, the only Europeans being four companies of the
King's Royal Rifle Corps. It was with the issue of this medal with
the clasp Burma 1885-87," that the precedent was set of award-
ing the medal and clasp in bronze to " all authorized followers," a
precedent that was followed in all subsequent issues.
16. South Africa, 1834-35, 1846-47, 1850-53. — Awarded by Queen
Victoria, 1854. (South Africa, 1877-79. Re-issue of first medal.
Awarded by Queen Victoria, 1880.) Obverse: Head of Queen
Victoria as in First China Medal. Reverse: A lion crouching be-
hind a sugar bush (Protea mellifera). Above, SOUTH AFRICA.
In exergue, 1853. In the exergue of the re-issued medal, the place
of the date is taken by a trophy of four assegais and a Zulu shield.
Ribbon: Orange watered, with two broad and two narrow blue
stripes (Plate II.). Clasps: 1877-78-79, 1878-79, 1877-78, 1878,
1877, 1879.
The command of the queen that a medal should be awarded to
the survivors of the forces that had been engaged in the first, second
and third Kaffir Wars (1834-35, 1846-47, and 1850-53) was notified by
Viscount Hardinge, the commander-in-chief, in a G.O., dated Horse
Guards, November 22, 1854. No clasps were issued with this medal.
The medal was accorded only to the " regular forces " (including the
Cape Mounted Rifles), so local levies did not receive it. In the third
Kaffir War a small Naval Brigade and a detachment of Royal
Marines took part in the operations, and the survivors received the
medal. The award of the re-issue was notified in a G.O. by the duke
of Cambridge, commander-in-chief, August I, 1880. It was to " be
granted to Her Majesty's Imperial Forces, and to such of Her
Majesty's Colonial Forces, European or Native, as were regularly
organized and disciplined as combatants, whether raised by the
Colonial Government or by the General Officer Commanding." The
operations for which it was given were against the Galekas and Gaikas
1877-78, the Griquas 1878, Basutos 1879, Zulus 1879, and Sekukuni
1878-79. In both the operations against the Galekas and Gaikas,
and in the Zulu War of 1879, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines
took part and received the medal. The clasps issued with this medal
were as noted above and record the year, or years, of service covering
all the operations in which the recipient was engaged. No one
received a medal with more than one clasp. The medal without a
clasp was issued to such troops as were employed in Natal from
January to September 1879, but never crossed the border into
Zululand.
17. Crimea, 1854-56. — Awarded by Queen Victoria in 1854.
Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria as in First China Medal; below,
1854. Reverse: Victory crowning a Roman soldier, who holds a
sword in his right hand, and bears on his left arm a shield on which
is the figure of a lion. On the left, CRIMEA. Ribbon : Light blue,
with narrow yellow borders (Plate I.). Clasps: ALMA, BALA-
KLAVA, INKERMANN, SEBASTOPOL, AZOFF. 3
This medal, awarded to both Services, was first notified by a
commander-in-chief's G.O., dated December 15, 1854. The grant
was limited to all troops landing in the Crimea up to September 9,
1855 — the day on which Sevastopol fell — " unless they shall have
been engaged after that date in some expedition or operation against
the enemy." This latter proviso applied in the main to the naval
clasp " AZOFF," the period for which award was extended to the
22nd of November. The clasps for this medal are very ornamental,
being in the shape of oak leaves, ornamented with acorns. The
Royal Navy and Royal Marines, besides the " Azoff " clasp, received
the clasps " Balaklava," " Inkermann," " Sebastopol." The
3 Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
MEDAL
13
largest number of clasps to any one medal is four. Certain non-
combatants received the medal without a clasp. >
18. Baltic, 1854-55. — Awarded by Queen Victoria, 1856- Ob-
verse : Head of Queen Victoria as in First China Medal. Reverse :
Britannia seated and holding a trident in her right hand. In the
background forts. Above, BALTIC. In exergue, 1854-1855.
Ribbon: Yellow, with pale blue borders (Plate I.). Clasps: Nil.
This award, notified by Admiralty Order, June 5, 1856, was
granted " to the officers and crews of Her Majesty's ships, as well
as to such officers and Men of Her Majesty's Army as were employed
in the operations in the Baltic in the years 1854 and 1855." The
medal is, of course, practically a naval one, but two officers and
ninety-nine men of the Royal Engineers were employed in the expedi-
tion, especially at Bomarsund, and received it.
19. Turkish Crimea Medal. — Awarded by the Sultan, 1856.
Obverse: A trophy composed of a field piece, a mortar, and an
anchor, the field piece standing on the Russian Imperial Standard,
and having a map of the Crimea spread over the wheel and breech.
Behind are the Turkish, British, French and Sardinian flags. The
flag of the nation to which the recipient belonged is in the front with
that of Turkey, the flags of the other two nationalities behind. In
exergue, " Crimea 1855," " La Crimee 1855," or " La Crimea 1855,"
according as to whether the medal was intended for British, French
or Sardinian recipients. Reverse: The Sultan's cypher, below, in
Turkish, "Crimea," and the year of the Hegira, 1271. Ribbon:
Crimson watered, with bright green edges (Plate I.). Clasps: Nil.
This medal was distributed to all of the Allied Forces, both naval
and military, which shared in the operations in the Black Sea and
the Crimea. As the ship that conveyed a majority of the English
medals was sunk, the remainder were issued indiscriminately, and a
large number of the British received medals which were originally
intended either for the French or Sardinians. 1
20. Arctic, 181 8-1 855 (First Arctic). — Awarded by Queen
Victoria, 1857. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria, wearing a tiara.
Legend, VICTORIA REGINA. Reverse: A ship blocked in the
ice, icebergs to right and left, and in foreground a sledging party.
Above, FOR ARCTIC DISCOVERIES. In exergue, 1818-1855.
Ribbon: White (Plate II.). Clasps: Nil.
This award was first notified in an Admiralty Notice dated,
January 30, 1857. It was given to the crews of Her Majesty's
ships employed in Arctic exploration, and also " to the officers of
the French Navy, and to such volunteers as accompanied those
expeditions "; also to those engaged in expeditions " equipped by
the government and citizens of the United States ": also to the
" commanders and crews of the several expeditions which originated
in the zeal and humanity of Her Majesty's subjects ": and finally to
those who served " in the several land expeditions, whether equipped
by Her Majesty's government, by the Hudson's Bay Company, or
from private resources." The medal is worn on the left breast and
takes rank as a war medal. It is octagonal in shape, I -3 in., and has
affixed to the upper edge a five-pointed star to which is attached
a ring for suspension. The head of the queen, which is the work
of L. C. Wyon, has never been reproduced on any other medal.
21. Indian Mutiny, 1857-58. — Awarded by the Government of
India, 1858. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria as on First China
Medal. Reverse: Britannia standing facing left with a lion on her
right side ; her right arm is extended holding out a wreath ; on her
left arm is the Union shield, and in her left hand a wreath. Above,
INDIA. In exergue, 1857-1858. Ribbon: White, with two red
stripes, forming five i-inch stripes (Plate I.). Clasps: DELHI
(May 30 to Sep. 14, 1857); DEFENCE OF LUCKNOW (June 29
to Sep. 25, 1857); RELIEF OF LUCKNOW (Nov., 1857); LUCK-
NOW (March 2 to 21, 1858); CENTRAL INDIA (Jan. to June
1858).
The grant of this award was first notified in a despatch from the
Court of Directors to the Government which stated that " the
Queen has been graciously pleased to command that a Medal shall
be granted to the troops in the Service of Her Majesty, and of the
East India Company, who have been, or may be, employed in the
suppression of the Mutiny in India." This is the last medal given
by the Honourable East India Company. The medal without
clasp was awarded to all, including civilians, who had taken part
in operations against the mutineers or rebels, and with the clasps
enumerated above to those who shared in the operations specified.
Some two or three artillery men are known to have received the
medal with the clasps " Delhi," " Relief of Lucknow," " Luck-
now " and " Central India." The medal with three clasps, viz.
" Delhi," " Relief of Lucknow " and " Lucknow " was given only
to the 9th Lancers and the Bengal Horse Artillery, and of course
1 In addition to this award the French emperor sent five hundred
of the French " Military Medal," to be distributed amongst specially
selected non-commissioned officers and men of the army and Royal
Marines, and petty officers and seamen of the Royal Navy. Only
two of these medals were given to officers, viz. the duke of Cambridge
and Sir William Codrington, the latter being presented by Pelissier
with his own medal. The king of Sardinia also distributed 450
medals to tbe British forces, of which 50 were given to the Royal
Navy and Royal Marines, and 243 to officers and 157 to non-com-
missioned officers and privates of the army.
various officers who served on the staff, as, for example, Field
Marshals Earl Roberts and Sir Henry Norman. With regard to
the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, the " Shannon's " brigade,
under Captain Peel, received the medal with one, or both, of the
clasps " Relief of Lucknow," " Lucknow," the " Pearl's " brigade,
under Captain Sotheby received the medal without clasp. This
is the last medal that had on it the beautiful head of Queen Victoria
which was first used for the China Medal of 1842, and of which
W. Wyon, R.A., was the artist.
22. Abyssinia, 1867-68. — Awarded by Queen Victoria, 1868.
Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria, with diadem and veil; around
an indented border, between the nine points of which are the letters
A.B.Y.S.S.I.N.I.A. Reverse: Within a beaded circle the name of
recipient, his corps, regiment or ship, the whole surrounded with
a wreath of laurel. Ribbon: Red, with broad white borders
Plate I.). Clasps: Nil.
The sanction of this award is to be found in a letter from Sir
J. S. Pakington, secretary of state for war, to H.R.H. the duke
of Cambridge, field-marshal commanding-in-chief, which notifies
the queen's pleasure " that a medal be granted to all Her Majesty's
Forces and Indian Forces, Naval and Military, employed in the
operations in Abyssinia, which resulted in the capture of Magdala."
In all 20,000 medals were struck. The medal is smaller than the
usual, i\ in. in diameter, and it is surmounted by an Imperial
Crown, and a large silver ring for suspension. It is altogether an
unusual type of medal, and in the use of an indented border it
follows a very old precedent, that of a medal commemorating the
victory of Valens over Procopius, A. n. 365. (See Les Medallions
de I' 'empire romain, by W. Froehner, Paris, 1878). The artists
responsible for this medal are Joseph S. Wyon and Alfred B. Wyon,
and this bust of the queen is reproduced on only one other medal,
the New Zealand.
23. New Zealand, 1845-47, 1860-66. — Awarded by Queen
Victoria, 1869. Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria as on Abyssinia
medal, but larger. Legend : VICTORIA D :G :BRITT : REG :F :D :
Reverse: Dated, within a wreath of laurel, according to the period
in which the recipient served. Above, NEW ZEALAND; below,
VIRTUTIS HONOR. Ribbon: Blue, with a broad red stripe
down centre (Plate I.). Clasps: Nil.
The grant of this award to the Army was notified in an Army
Order, dated March 1, 1869, and its extension to the Royal Navy
and Royal Marines by an Admiralty Order, dated June 3, 1869.
Owing to incompleteness in the returns many medals were issued
undated. The dates on the reverse, in those issued dated, varied
considerably; for the First Maori War, the medal was issued to the
Army with one, and to the Navy with five different dates; for the
Second Maori War, the medal was issued to the Army with twenty-
one, and to the Navy with five different dates. No medal was
dated 1862, though many of the Army medals bore date of a period
covering that year, although no naval medals did.
24. West Africa, 1873-1900. — Awarded (originally as the " Ash-
antee " medal) by Queen Victoria in 1874, with the exception of
the last issue, with clasp " 1900," which was awarded by H.M.
King Edward VII. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria, with
diadem, and veil behind, by L. C. Wyon. Legend: VICTORIA
REGINA. Reverse: British soldiers fighting savages in thick
bush, by Sir E. J. Poynter. Ribbon: Yellow, with black borders,
and two narrow black stripes (Plate II.). Clasps: COOMASSIE,
1887-8, 1891-2, 1892, 1893-94; WITU, 1890;* LIWONDI, 1893;'
WITU, August 1893; 3 JUBA RIVER, 1893; 3 LAKE NYASSA,
1893; 2 GAMBIA, 1894; 2 BENIN RIVER, 1894; 3 BRASS RIVER,
1895;' MWELE, 1895; 3 'NIGER, 1897; BENIN, 1897; 3 SIERRA
LEONE, 1898-99; 1896-98, 1807-98, 1898, 1899, 1900.
This medal was first awarded by Army Order 43, dated June I,
1874, to " all of Her Majesty's Forces who have been employed
on the Gold Coast during the operations against the King of
Ashantee," and in addition a clasp, " Coomassie," "in the case of
those who were present at Amoaful and the actions between that
place and Coomassie (including the capture of the capital), and of
those who, during the five days of those actions, were engaged on
the north of the Prah in maintaining and protecting the communi-
cations of the main army." In all, with and without the clasp,
11,000 medals were issued for the Ashantee campaign to both
Services. Over eighteen years later this same medal was re-issued
as a " general service " medal, the award being for operations in
Central Africa, and on the East and West Coasts, during the period
1887-92, which were covered by the dated, clasps " i887~'8 > i'
" 1891-2," and " 1892." As such the issue was continued for
operations down to the year 1900, although the official title " West
8 These clasps were all naval awards, but two companies of the
West India Regiment took part in the operations for which the
clasp " Gambia, 1894," was awarded.
3 Were awarded by the Admiralty to certain local forces which
oo-operated with the Naval Brigades.
4 " Mwele, 1895," is not strictly speaking a clasp, as it is engraved
on the edge of the medal. Recipients already in possession of the
medal were entitled to have the action and date engraved thereon.
It corresponds, however, to a clasp in that it commemorates a
particular service, and so has been included.
14
MEDAL
Africa Medal" (see Army Order 253, of Dec. 1894) is somewhat
of a misnomer, for very frequently the medal has been granted for
services in Central Africa and in the Hinterland of the East Coast
as for services on the West Coast. In all issues since the original
" Ashantee " medal, the clasp only was given to those who already
had the medal, so subsequent issues do not make it a new award.
As will be seen later, the same medal was subsequently issued with
a different ribbon, and so constituted as an entirely new decoration,
that could be worn in conjunction with the older one. With the
exception of those issued with " Mwele, 1895 " engraved on the
medal, none of these medals have been issued without a clasp
since the original issue for the campaign of 1873-7^; and the
clasp " Coomassie " that accompanied the first issue is the only
one that has been issued to regimental units of the British Army
as apart from the West India Regiment and local troops. The
duke of Edinburgh was married in January of the year in which
this medal was first awarded, and it is said that yellow and black (the
Imperial Russian colours) were chosen as the colours of the ribbon,
in compliment to his consort the grand duchess Marie of Russia.
25. Arctic, 1876 (2nd Arctic Medal). — Awarded by Queen Victoria,
1876. Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria, crowned and with veil
by G. G: Adams. Legend: VICTORIA REGINA; underneath
bust, 1876. Reverse: A ship packed in floe ice; above, an Arctic
sky with fleecy clouds in a clear horizon. Ribbon: White (Plate II.).
Clasps: Nil.
The award of this grant was notified in an Admiralty Order,
dated Nov. 28, 1876, and the award is specified " to all persons,
of every rank and class, who were serving on board Her Majesty's
ships ' Alert ' and ' Discovery ' during the Arctic Expedition of
1875-1876, and on board the yacht ' Pandora,' in her voyage to
the Arctic Regions in 1876." The 'Pandora' was owned and sailed
by Commander (Sir Allen) Young, R.N.R., whose officers and crew
rendered valuable services to Her Majesty's ships when in the Polar
seas. Sixty-three medals were given on board the " Alert," fifty-
seven on board the " Discovery." The bust on the obverse of this
medal has not been reproduced on any other. The reverse (by L. C.
Wyon) is copied from a photograph taken during the expedition of
the " Alert ' and " Discovery ' under Sir George Nares, K.C.B.
26. Afghanistan, 1878-80 (2nd Afghan). Awarded by Queen
Victoria, 1880. Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria, crowned and
with veil, by J. E. Boehm. This is the first war medal bearing
the imperial title. Legend: VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERA-
TRIX. Reverse: A column of troops emerging from a mountain-
pass, headed by a heavy battery elephant carrying a gun; behind,
mounted troops. Above, AFGHANISTAN. In exergue, 1878-
-79-80. Ribbon: Green, with crimson borders (Plate I.).
Clasps: ALI MUSJID, PEIWAR KOTAL, CHARASIA, KABUL,
AHMED KHEL, KANDAHAR.
At the conclusion of the first phase of the Second Afghan War,
it was proposed that the (Second) India G.S. Medal should be
issued for this campaign with clasps " Afghanistan," " AH Musjid,"
" Peiwar Kotal," but, after the massacre of Sir P. L. N. Cavagnari
and the members and escort of the Embassy at Kabul, Sep. 3,
1879, an d the consequent renewal of the war, it was decided to
grant a separate medal. The first official intimation of the award
is in a telegram from the secretary of state for India to the viceroy,
dated Aug. 7, 1880. The award, with the regulations to govern
the issue, was promulgated in a G.O. by the governor-general,
Dec. 10, 1880, and subsequent G.O.'s. The medal without clasp
was awarded to all who had served across the frontier between
Nov. 22, 1878, and May 26, 1879 (first phase of the war), and be-
tween Sep. 1879, and Aug. 15, 1880 for the Khyber and Kurram
Lines, and Sep. 20, 1880, for Southern Afghanistan (second phase
of the war). The " Kabul " clasp was awarded to all who had
shared in the operations " at and near that place from the loth
to the 23rd Dec, 1879, including the column under the command
of Brigadier-General C. J. S. Gough, C.B., which joined Sir Frederick
Roberts on the 24th Dec, 1879." The clasp for " Kandahar "
did not include the whole garrison of the beleaguered city, but
only the troops that were actually " engaged in the action fought
under Sir Frederick Roberts' command against Sirdar Mahomed
Ayub Khan on, the 1st Sep., 1880." The greatest number of
clasps with which the medal was issued was four, and the units
to which such medals were issued are the 72nd Highlanders, 5th
Ghoorkas, 5th Punjab Infantry and 23rd Punjab Pioneers. The
bust of the Queen by Sir Edgar Boehm, R.A., has not been re-
produced on other war medals.
27. Kabul to Kandahar, 1880. — Awarded by Queen # Victoria,
1880. This decoration took the form of a five-pointed st'ar, 1-9 in.
across from point to point, with a ball between the points; between
the two topmost points of the star is an Imperial Crown and ring
for suspension. Obverse: In the centre the imperial monogram
V.R.I. , surrounded by a band inscribed KABUL TO KANDAHAR,
1880. Reverse: Plain, with a hollow centre, round which the
recipient's name and regiment are indented in capital letters. The
old rainbow-coloured military ribbon is worn with this star.
The grant of this award was first notified in a despatch from the
secretary of state for India to the viceroy, dated Nov. 30, 1880.
This awarded the decoration " to the force which marched from
Kabul to Kandahar," and later, Aug. 26, 1881, a G.O. by the
Governor-General extended the grant " to the troops which then
composed the garrison of Kelat-i-Ghilzai, and accompanied the
force under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir F. S. Roberts,
G.C.B., V.C., from that place to Kandahar."
28. Egypt, 1882-1889. — Awarded by Queen Victoria, 18821
Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria as in the West African Medal;
Legend: VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX. Reverse:
A Sphinx; above, EGYPT; below, 1882. Ribbon: Blue, with two
white stripes, forming five J-inch stripes (Plate I.). Clasps: ALEX-
ANDRIA, nth July 1 ; TEL-EL-KEBIR, SUAKIN, 1884; EL
TEB, TAMAAI, EL-TEB-TAMAAI, 2 THE NILE, 1884-85;
ABU KLEA, KIRBEKAN, SUAKIN, 1885; TOFREK, GEMAI-
ZAH, 1888; TOSKI, 1889. 3 This medal was first awarded .(Admi-
ralty Circular, Oct. 1882; G.O. by the commander-in-chief, Oct. 17,
1882; and G.O. by governor-general of India, Oct. 27, 1882);
to all the Forces, naval and military, present and serving in Egypt
between July 16, and Sep. 14, 1882. The first two clasps were
also given with this issue. One military officer (Major-General
Sir A. B. Tulloch, then of the Welsh Regiment) received the clasp
" Alexandria, nth July," as he was serving in the fleet as military
adviser to Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour. A second issue was
made in 1884, and with it the next four clasps were given; " Suakin,
1884," for those who landed at Suakin or Trinkitat between Feb. 19
and March 26, 1884, was, however, only given to those with the
1882 medal, those not so possessed receiving the medal without
a clasp. A third issue was made in 1885, the next five clasps
accompanying it. " The Nile, 1884-85," was given to those
who served south of Assouan on or before March 7, 1885; " Suakin,
1885," to those who were engaged in the operations at Suakin
between March and May 14, 1885; but the former clasp was only
to go to those already possessed of the medal, others received the
medal only. The medal alone was also given to all on duty at
Suakin between March 27, 1884, and May 14, 1885. No medals
were issued with single clasps for " Tofrek," recipients of which
also got clasp " Suakin, 1885," or " Abu Klea " and " Kirbekan,"
recipients of which got also clasp " The Nile, 1884-85." In
1886, the medal without was issued to those who had not previ-
ously received it and had served at, and south of Wady Haifa,
between Nov. 30, 1885 and Jan. 11, 1886, but no clasps went with
this issue, although the operations included the battle of Ginnis,
The last issue was made in 1890. The medal with clasp " Gemaizah,
1888," to all who were present at that action near Suakin, Dec. 20,
1888; the medal alone to all employed on the Nile at, and south
of Korosko, on Aug. 3, 1889, and with clasp " Toski, 1889," to aH
present at that action, Aug. 3, 1889. Besides those already enumer-
ated who received the medal without clasp, it was given to officers
of hired transports of the mercantile marine, to some civilians,
native and European,, to the Australian contingent that landed at
Suakin, and to the Canadian boatmen employed on the Nile, k
fact, not far short of fifty thousand of these medals have been
struck, and the numbers issued have exceeded that of any other
medal with the exception of that given for the South African War.
Seven clasps: " Tel-el-Kebir," " Suakin, 1884 "; " El-Teb-Tamaai";
"The Nile, 1884-85"; "Abu Klea"; "Gemaizah, 1888"; and
" Toski, 1889," were awarded to one officer, Major Beech, late 20th
Hussars, who also received the Bronze Star with the clasp " Tokar,
1890." The medal with six clasps was earned by four men of the
19th Hussars who were Lord Wolseley's orderlies, and who after
having earned the first five clasps enumerated in Major Beech's
medal, went with Lord Wolseley to Suakin and so got the " Suakin,
1885 " clasp.
29. Egypt Bronze Star, 1882-93. — Awarded by the Khedive
1883. This decoration is in the shape of a five-pointed star (1-9 in.
diameter) connected by a small star and crescent to a laureated
bar to which the ribbon is attached. Obverse : A front view of
the Sphinx, with the desert and pyramids in the rear. Around
a double band, upon which are, above, EGYPT, 1882, and below',
in Arabic, " Khedive of Egypt, 1299 " (the Hegira date). In the
second and third issues the dates are respectively altered to 1884,
1301 and 1884-86 and 1301-4; the fourth and fifth issues
are dateless. Reverse: A large raised circle inside which is thfe
Khedivial monogram, T. M. (Tewfik Mahomed), surmounted fcy
a Crown and Crescent and Star. Ribbon : Dark blue (Plate 11
Clasps: TOKAR, 1890.
This star was awarded for the same operations as was the British
Egyptian medal above described, but, except for a few officers
and men of the Royal Navy, the issue of the clasp TOKAR was
confined to British and native officers and men of the Egyptian
service. • (H. L. S.)
30. Canada, 1885. — Awarded by Queen Victoria, 1885. Obverse:
Head of Queen Victoria as on the West African ("Ashantee")
Medal. Reverse: NORTH WEST CANADA and date, within
a maple leaf. Ribbon: Blue-grey, with a crimson stripe on each
side (Plate II.). Clasp: SASKATCHEWAN.
This medal, commemorative of services in the Riel Rebellion:,
was awarded to Canadian forces only.
1 Issued to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines only.
2 For combatants present at both actions.
3 Only clasp not issued to Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
MEDALS AND DECORATIONS
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MEDALS AND DECORATIONS
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MEDAL
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31. Canada (General Service) .—Awarded, 1899. Obverse: Head
of Queen Victoria, as in Third India G. S. Medal. Reverse: Within
a maple wreath, the Dominion flag, above, CANADA. Ribbon:
Red, with white centre (Plate II.). Clasps: FENIAN RAID,
1866; FENIAN RAID, 1870; RED RIVER, 1870. One battalion
of the King's Royal Rifles received this medal with the Red River
Clasp. Otherwise issue confined to Canadian forces.
32. " Queen's " Sudan, 1896-1898. — Awarded by Queen Victoria,
1899. Obverse: Half-length effigy of Queen Victoria holding
sceptre, by De Saulles, as in " Uganda " medal described below.
Reverse: A winged Victory, seated, with, on either hand, the
Union Jack and the Egyptian flag. The left hand holds a laurel
wreath, the right a palm branch. On a tablet below, SUDAN,
and below this lotus leaves. Ribbon: Half black, half yellow,
divided by a narrow red stripe (Plate I.). Clasps: none.
Given for the operations under the command of Sir Herbert
(Lord) Kitchener, which led to the reconquest of the Sudan, 1898;
issued in bronze to followers.
33. " Khedive's " Sudan, 1896-1900. — Awarded by the khedive
in 1897. Obverse: "Abbas Hilmi II." and date, in Arabic. Re-
verse: A trophy of arms with a shield in the centre, on a tablet
below " Recovery of the Sudan," in Arabic. Ribbon: Yellow,
with blue centre (Plate I.). Clasps: FIRKET, HAFIR, SUDAN,
1897; SUDAN, 1898; ABU HAMED, THE ATBARA, KHAR-
TOUM GEDAREF, 1 SUDAN, 1899 ; l SUDAN, 1900 ; l CEDID, 1
BAHR-EL-GHAZAL, 1900-1902; 1 TEROK, 1 NY AM NYAM, 1
TALODI. 1
This medal was awarded to officers and men of the British Navy
and Army, to the Egyptian Army engaged in the reconquest of
the Sudan and (in bronze without clasps) to followers.
34. Cape Colony General Service, 1900. — Awarded by the govern-
ment of Cape Colony. Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria as on the
Volunteer Long Service Medal. Reverse: Arms of Cape Colony.
Ribbon: Dark blue, with yellow centre (Plate II.). Clasps:
BASUTOLAND, TRANSKEI, BECHUANALAND. Issued to
Colonial troops only, for services in various minor campaigns.
35. Matabeleland, 1893 (called the Rhodesia Medal).— -Awarded
by the British South Africa Company, 1896. Obverse: Bust of
Queen Victoria. Reverse: A fighting lion. Ribbon: Orange,
with three dark blue stripes (Plate II.). Clasps: RHODESIA
and MASHONALAND, with dates.
This is the first war medal issued by a chartered company since
the close of the Company's rule in India. It was awarded to British
officers and men of the British service, to the Cape Mounted Rifles,
Bechuanaland police, and the Chartered Company's own forces,
engaged in the Matabeleland and Mashonaland Campaigns 1893,
1896 and 1897.
36. East and Central Africa, 1891-98. — Awarded by Queen
Victoria in 1895. Obverse and Reverse: as in West African (or
original Ashantee) Medal described above. Ribbon: Terra-cotta,
white and black stripes (Plate II.). Clasps: CENTRAL AFRICA,
1894-96; CENTRAL AFRICA, 1899.
This medal only differs from the West African in that it has a
different ribbon. It is suspended by a ring. Practically only the
local forces (and of course their British officers) received this medal.
But a few officers and men of the Indian Army and of the Royal
Navy have also received it.
37. East and Central Africa, 1899 {the" Uganda" Medal). — Awarded
by Queen Victoria in 1899. Obverse: Half-length effigy of Queen
Victoria, by De Saulles. Reverse: Britannia with lion, gazing over
a desert towards a rising sun. Ribbon: Half red, half yellow
(Plate II.). Clasps: LUBWA'S, UGANDA, 1897-98; UGANDA,
1899; UGANDA, 1900.
This medal was awarded to the local forces and also to officers
and men of the Indian Army and Royal Navy.
38. Ashanti Star, 1896. — Awarded by Queen Victoria in 1896.
Obverse: An imperial crown with " Ashanti, 1896 " round it.
Reverse: Inscribed " from the Queen." The star is four-pointed,
and is crossed by a saltire or St Andrew's cross. Ribbon: Yellow
with black stripes (Plate II.).
This medal was issued for the expedition against Prempeh in
1896. As there was no actual fighting, no medal was given, but
sickness claimed many victims, amongst them Prince Henry of
Battenberg. The decoration was issued to officers and men of
the British Army, Royal Navy and local troops.
39. Ashanti Medal, 1900. — Awarded by King Edward VII. in
1901. Obverse: Head and bust of King Edward VII. in the uniform
of a field-marshal, by De Saulles. Reverse: a lion standing on a
cliff, in the background the rising sun. Ribbon: Green with black
edges and black central stripe (Plate II.). Clasp: KUMASSI.
This medal was the first which was issued with an effigy of King
Edward VII. It was given only to local forces, and the British
officers employed on the staff or in commands.
40. Africa General Service, 1899- . — Awarded by King
Edward VII. in 1902. Obverse: As in Ashanti Medal of 1900.
Reverse: As in "Uganda" Medal above described. Ribbon:
Yellow, with black edges and two narrow green stripes (Plate II.).
Clasps: N. NIGERIA, with various dates ; S. NIGERIA, with various
Awarded to Egyptian Army only.
dates; UGANDA, 1900; JUBALAND, GAMBIA, LANGO, 1901 and
1902; JIDBALLI, KISSI, 1905; SOMALILAND, 1901 and 1902-04;
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA, 1899-1900; ARO, 1901-02.
This medal represents an almost incessant warfare of a minor,
but exacting, nature. In the first eighteen months, eleven clasps
were awarded, some awards being of course retrospective. The
clasp " Jubaland " is chiefly a naval award, but all the rest are
almost exclusively earned by the West African Frontier Force and
the King's African Rifles. It is worthy of remembrance, however,
that a contingent of Boer mounted riflemen took part in the Somali-
land Campaign, within one year of the peace of Vereeniging, and
received the medal and clasp. The "Somaliland, 1 902-1904 "
clasp represents indeed a considerable campaign in which contingents
from Great Britain and India took part.
41. "Queen's" South African, 1899-1902. — Awarded by King
Edward VII. in 1901 shortly after Queen Victoria's death. Obverse:
Bust of Queen Victoria, by De Saulles. Reverse: Britannia holding
an outstretched laurel wreath towards a body of troops, in the
background a coast line, the sea and war-ships. Ribbon: Centre
orange bordered with blue, outside edges red (Plate II.). Clasps;
see below.
The " Queen's " medal for troops engaged in the South African
War was authorized, shortly after Queen Victoria's death, by
Army Order 94 of 1901. It was given "to all officers, warrant
officers, non-commissioned officers and men, of the British, Indian
and Colonial forces, and to all Nurses and Nursing Sisters, who
actually served in South Africa between nth of October 1899, and
a date to be fixed hereafter " (the war not being concluded) " to all
troops stationed in Cape Colony and Natal at the outbreak of hostili-
ties, and to troops stationed at St Helena between the 14th of April
1900, and a date to be fixed hereafter." The last provision shows
a widening of the signification hitherto attaching to " war service,"
for the troops at St Helena were employed in guarding Boer
prisoners. The A.O. referred to was supplemented by others in
iqoi and 1902. Clasps were authorized as follows: BELMONT
(Nov. 23, 1899); MODDER RIVER (Nov. 28, 1899): PAARDE-
BERG (Feb. 17-26, 1900); DREIFONTEIN (March 10, 1900);
WEPENER (April 9-25, 1900); JOHANNESBURG (May 29,
1900); DIAMOND HILL (June 11-12, 1900); BELFAST
(Aug. 26-27, 1900); WITTEBERGEN (July 1-29, 1900); DE-
FENCE OF KIMBERLEY (Oct. 14, 1899, Feb.. 15, 1900),
RELIEF OF KIMBERLEY (Feb. 15, 1900); DEFENCE OF
MAFEKING (Oct. 13, 1899— May 17, 1900); RELIEF OF
MAFEKING (May 17, 1900) ; TALANA (Oct. 20, 1899) ; ELANDS-
LAAGTE (Oct. 21, 1899); DEFENCE OF LADYSMITH
(Nov. 3, 1899— Feb. 28, 1900); TUGELA HEIGHTS (Feb. 14-
27, 1900); RELIEF OF LADYSMITH (Dec. 15, 1899— Feb. 28
1900); LAING'S NEK (June 2-9, 1900). Clasps: for
CAPE COLONY, NATAL, ORANGE FREE STATE and RHO-
DESIA, were given to troops who served within the limits of the
respective colonies and states named during the war, without
being present at any action, fought inside those limits, for which
a clasp was awarded. Non-enlisted men, of whatever nationality,
who drew military pay, were awarded the medal in bronze instead
of silver and without clasps. Militia units which volunteered and
were sent to Mediterranean stations to release the regulars for
field service were awarded (Feb. 1902) the medal without clasp,
Mediterranean " being substituted for " South Africa " on the
reverse. This was not, of course, issued to any one entitled to the
Queen's Medal for South Africa.
43. The " King's " South African Medal was awarded by King
Edward VII. in 1902, to be worn in addition to the "Queen's " by
those who completed eighteen months' service in South Africa
during the war. On the obverse of the medal is the effigy of King
Edward, by De Saulles (as on the " Ashanti, 1900," Medal); the
reverse is the same as that of the "Queen's" Medal. Ribbon:
Green, white and orange (Plate II.). The two clasps awarded
were, in accordance with the terms of the award, general in character,
to wit, SOUTH AFRICA, 1901 and SOUTH AFRICA, 1902.
44. China, 1900. — Awarded by King Edward VII., 1902. Ob-
verse: Bust of Queen Victoria as on "Queen's" South African
Medal. Reverse : As on first China Medal, but with date altered.
Ribbon: As in first China Medal (Plate I.). Clasps: DEFENCE
OF LEGATIONS, RELIEF. OF PEKIN, TAKU FORTS.
This medal was issued to the Royal Navy (including some Naval
volunteers), British and Indian Armies, and the (Wei-hai-Wei).
Chinese Regiment, for operations during the Boxer rebellion. "
This was the last war medal, as the " First China " was the first
to bear Queen Victoria's effigy. Sir E. H. Seymour, the commander
of the Tientsin relieving column, who had taken part in the former
China War, received the new medal as well as the old.
45. India, 1895 (Third India General Service). — Awarded by
Queen Victoria in 1896. Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria, by
T. Brock, R.A. Reverse: A British and Indian soldier supporting
a standard; below, INDIA, 1895. Ribbon: Three red and two
green stripes of equal width (Plate I.). Clasps: DEFENCE OF
CHITRAL, 1895; RELIEF OF CHITRAL, 1895; MALAKAND,
1898; PUNJAB FRONTIER, 1898; TIRAH, 1897: TIRAH
1898; WAZIRISTAN, 1901-02.
The ribbon of this medal is perhaps more frequently seen than
i6
MEDAL
that of any other British war medal except those for South Africa.
In 1903 the medal was re-issued with the military effigy of King
Edward VII. (as on the Ashanti, 1900, medal) on the obverse,
and the date was omitted from the reverse. The medal is issued
in bronze, without clasps, to followers.
46. Tibet, 1903-04. — Awarded by King Edward VII in 1905.
Obverse: Military effigy of the king as on Ashanti, 1900, medal.
Reverse: a representation of the Potala at Lhasa. Ribbon:
Purple-red, edged with green and white stripes (Plate II.). Clasp:
GYANTSE.
47. India, 1908. — A new India General Service Medal was
authorized in 1908, to take the place of the medal granted by A.O.
43 of 1903. This was to be issued in silver to officers and
men, and in bronze to non-enlisted men of all sorts. This medal
with clasp bearing the name and date was given to the troops
which took part in the North Western Frontier Expedition of 1 908.
The ribbon is dark blue edged with green.
48. Transport Medal. — Awarded by King Edward VII. in 1902.
Obverse : Head and bust of the king in naval uniform, by De Saulles.
Reverse; A steamer at sea, and the five continents. Ribbon: red,
with two thin stripes near the edge (Plate II.). Clasps: SOUTH
AFRICA, 1899-1902; CHINA, 1900. This medal is restricted to
officers of the mercantile marine serving in chartered troop-ships.
It is a sort of general service medal, clasps being added as earned.
Up to 1910 only the above clasps had been authorized.
49. Polar Medal (or Antarctic Medal). — Awarded by King
Edward VII., 1904. Obverse: Naval effigy of the king as on
Transport Medal. Reverse : In the foreground a sledge and travel-
lers, in the background the steamer " Discovery " (Capt. R. F. Scott's
Expedition, 1904). Ribbon: As for 1st and 2nd Arctic Medals,
white (Plate I.). The medal, like the 1st Arctic Medal, is octagonal.
First awarded to officers and men of the " Discovery," whether
belonging to the Royal Navy or not. It is given with a dated clasp
for Antarctic exploration service.
Other Medals and Decorations. — The above forty-nine medals
are given as rewards for participating in the operations they
commemorate, and issued generally to all concerned, irrespective
of individual distinction or bravery. There are other classes
of medals and decorations, civil as well as military, which must
be grouped with them, as being allied in character. These
are either (i.) awards personal to the recipient, being an acknow-
ledgment of or reward for special individual services or good
conduct (these are civil as well as military in respect of awards
for bravery), or (ii.) awards that are simply of a commemorative
kind, though worn as war medals and for the most part given
to officers and soldiers. The more important of these two
classes will be named. Orders given for service are dealt with,
for the most part in the article Knighthood; but particulars
are given here of certain distinctively military orders that
have no knighthood rights and duties, and indeed little meaning
apart from the deeds or services which led to the award — being
so to speak, records of the past, rather than badges of a present
membership. Individual decorations for Services may be
classed as (i.) for gallantry, (ii.) for special merit, and (iii.)
for long service and good conduct.
1. Indian Order of Merit. — Awarded by H.E.I. Company and
notified by G.O. of governor-general, April 17, 1837. Obverse:
1st Class— A Gold Star, ij in. diameter; in the centre, in gold on
a ground of dark blue enamel, crossed swords within a circle around
which is the legend, REWARD OF VALOUR, the whole encircled
by a gold laurel wreath. 2nd Class — Star similar to that of 1st
Class, but in silver. Wreath and centre as in 1st Class.. 3rd Class —
Star exactly similar to that of 2nd Class, but the wreath and centre
in silver, and dark blue enamel and silver, respectively. Reverse:
Engraved 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class Order of Merit, respectively, but
the name of the recipient is not engraved on the decoration when
issued. Ribbon: Dark blue, with red edges. This decoration is
to be obtained only by a " conspicuous act of individual gallantry "
in the field or in the attack or defence of fortified places. It is
open to all native officers or soldiers of the Indian Army, " without
distinction of rank or grade." The 3rd Class is bestowed for the
first act of gallantry for which the recipient is recommended. The
2nd Class is given only to those who possess the third, and for a
second act of conspicuous gallantry. The 1st Class is given only
to those who hold the 2nd, and for a third act of bravery. A
recipient of the decoration receives an additional allowance equivalent
in the 3rd Class to one-third, in the 2nd to two-thirds, and in the
1st to the whole of the ordinary pay of his rank, over and above
that pay or his pension. The widow (in the case of plurality of
wives, the first married) receives the pension of the Order for three
years after her husband's death.
2. Victoria Cross. — Instituted by Royal Warrant, January 29,
1856. A bronze Maltese Cross, 1^ in. diameter, with, in the
centre, the Royal Crest (lion and crown), and below it a scroll
inscribed "FOR VALOUR." There is a bronze laureated bat
for suspension, connected with the cross by a V. The reverse is
plain, but the name, rank and corps of the recipient are engraved
on the back of the laureated bar. Ribbon: Red for the army;
blue for the navy. Clasp: For every additional act of bravery
a clasp, bearing the date of such act, may be awarded.
Nothing save " the merit of conspicuous bravery " gives claim
for the decoration, and it must be evinced by " some signal act of
valour or devotion to their country " performed " in me presence
of the enemy." (The regulation italicized was for a short time
abrogated, but soon restored to force.) The original Royal Warrant
has been supplemented by various Royal Warrants (Oct. 1857,
Aug. and Dec. 1858, Jan, 1867, April and Aug. 1881), and now
every grade and rank of all ranks of all branches of His Majesty's
Forces, British and Colonial, are eligible, with the single exception
of native ranks of the Indian army, who have an equivalent decora-
tion in their own Order of Merit. In the case of recipients who
are not of commissioned rank, the Cross carries with it a pension
of £10 a year, and an additional £5 a year for each clasp. A larger
grant is sometimes given to holders of the V.C. who are in need of
monetary help. In all, up to 1904, the Cross was awarded to 521
recipients (including 15 posthumous awards).
3. Distinguished Conduct in the Field (Army). — Instituted by
Royal Warrant, September 30, 1862. Obverse: A military trophy,
with, in the centre, the Royal Arms (as in the Long Service and
Good Conduct Medals). Reverse: inscribed " FOR DISTIN-
GUISHED CONDUCT IN THE FIELD." Ribbon: Three stripes
equal width, outside red, centre blue (Plate II.). Clasp: Royal
Warrant, 7th of February 1 881, authorized award of clasps for
subsequent acts of gallantry.
" Individual acts of distinguished conduct in the field in any
part of the world " entitle to this medal, and only non-commissioned
officers and men of the British forces are eligible for the award.
Prior to its institution, distinguished gallantry was rewarded by
the " Meritorious Service " medal. Single clasps have been con-
stantly conferred, and there is more than one case of a recipient
having earned two clasps to his medal.
4. Albert Medal (for saving life at sea). — Instituted by Royal
Warrant, 7th of March 1866. Gold oval badge, enamelled in dark
blue, with a monogram composed of the letters V and A, inter-
laced with an anchor erect, all in gold, surrounded with a' garter
in bronze, inscribed in raised letters of gold " FOR GALLANTRY
IN SAVING LIFE AT SEA," and surmounted by a representation
of the crown of the prince consort, the whole edged with gold.
Ribbon: dark blue, with two white stripes. Clasps are awarded
for any subsequent acts ' of bravery. By a subsequent Royal
Warrant of the 12th of April 1867, the decoration was- re-constituted
in two classes, as follows. 1st Class — Badge precisely as already
described. Ribbon: Dark blue, with four white stripes (if in.
wide). Clasps: As authorized in original warrant. 2nd Class-^
Badge exactly similar to that of the 1st Class, except that it is
entirely worked in bronze, instead of gold and bronze. Ribbon:
Dark blue, with too white stripes. Clasps: As authorized for
1st Class.
The decoration is awarded only to those who " have, in saving
or endeavouring to save the lives of others from shipwreck or other
peril of the sea, endangered their own lives." The 1st Class is
confined " to cases of extreme and heroic daring " ; the 2nd for acts
which, though great courage may be shown, " are not sufficiently
distinguished to deserve " the 1st Class of the decoration.
5. New Zealand Cross. — Instituted by an Order of the governor
of New Zealand in council, 10th of March, 1869. Silver Maltese
Cross with gold star on each of the four limbs and in the centre,
in a circle within a gold laurel wreath, NEW ZEALAND. Above
the Cross a crown in gold, and connected at the top by a V, to a
silver bar ornamented with laurel in gold. The name of recipient
is engraved on reverse. Width of Cross, 1 1 in. Ribbon : Crimson.
Clasps: Authorized for subsequent acts of valour. In authorizing
this decoration Sir G. F. Bowen, the then governor, went outside
his authority, but the queen ratified the colonial order in council,
and intimated " Her gracious desire that the arrangements made
by it may be considered as established from that date by Her
direct authority." It was, however, stipulated that the occasion
was in no way to form a precedent. The award was to be for those
" who may particularly distinguish themselves by their bravery
in action, or devotion to their duty while on service," and only
local " Militia, Volunteers or Armed Constabulary " were to be
eligible. In all only nineteen of these decorations were awarded.
No clasps were awarded.
6. Conspicuous Gallantry (Navy). — Instituted by an Order of
the queen in Council, 7th of July, 1874. Obverse: Head of Queen
Victoria, by W. Wyon, R.A. (as on China Medal). 1 Reverse: A
laurel wreath, and within FOR CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY.
Above, a crown. Ribbon : Three stripes of equal_ width, outside
blue, centre white (Plate II.). Clasps: none authorized.
To reward " acts of pre-eminent bravery in Action with the
Enemy." Only petty officers and seamen of the Royal Navy,
1 Now naval effigy of King Edward VII., as on Transport Service
1 Medal
MEDAE
*7
and non-commissioned officers and privates of the Royal Marines,
are eligible for this decoration. Prior to the institution of this
decoration, acts of gallantry by sailors and marines were rewarded
by the same medal as that given to the army before the "medal
for distinguished conduct in the field " was instituted, viz. the
" Meritorious Service " medal. If the holder be a Chief or First
Class Petty Officer, or a Sergeant of Marines, the award carries
with it an annuity of £20 per annum; and if a recipient's service
ends before his reaching one of those ranks, he may receive a
gratuity of £20 on discharge.
7. Albert Medal (for saving life on land).— Instituted by Royal
Warrant, 30th of April 1877. 1st Class — Similar to that of the
1st Class for saving life at sea, but the enamelling is in red
instead of blue, and there is no anchor interlaced with, the mono-
gram V.A. Ribbon: Crimson, with four white stripes. Clasps:
for subsequent acts of same character. 2nd Class — Badge similar
to that of the 2nd Class for saving life at sea, but the enamelling
is in red instead of blue, and there is no anchor interlaced with the
monogram V.A. Ribbon: Crimson, with two white stripes.
Clasps: As authorized for 1st Class.
The conditions governing the award of this decoration are the
same that govern the award for saving life at sea. Originally the
award was restricted to acts of gallantry performed within British
dominions, but this restriction was removed by Royal Warrant,
5th of June 1905.
8. Distinguished Conduct in the Field {Colonial). — Instituted by
a Royal Warrant, 24th of May 1894, which was later cancelled
and superseded by Royal Warrant, 31st of May 1895. Obverse:
same as " Distinguished Conduct in the Field " (Army). Reverse:
same as " Army " medal, but with the name of the colony inscribed
above the words " For Distinguished Conduct in the Field."
Ribbon : Crimson, with a line of the colonial .colour in the centre.
Clasps: Authorized for subsequent acts of valour. Every colony
or protectorate, having permanently embodied forces, draws up
regulations to govern the issue of these medals as suit its own
particular requirements, but in all essentials these regulations are
modelled on those that govern the award of the Distinguished
Conduct in the Field (Army).
9. Conspicuous Service Cross. — Instituted by an Order in Council,
15th of June 1901. Silver -cross, with the reverse side plain; on
the obverse, in the centre, the Imperial and Royal Cypher, E.R.I.,
surmounted by the imperial crown. Ribbon: Three stripes equal
width, outside white, centre blue. Clasps: none authorized.
This award is to recognize "■ Distinguished Service before the
Enemy." Its grant is confined to " Warrant Officers or Sub-
ordinate Officers " of the Royal Navy. Such, not being of " lower-
deck rating," are not eligible for the " Conspicuous Gallantry "
medal; also, they, " by reason of not holding a commission in the
Royal Navy, are not eligible to any existing Order or Decoration."
10. Edward Medal. — Founded in 1907 to reward acts of courage
in saving life in mines, this medal was extended in 1909 (R.W.
Dec. 3) so as to be awarded " to those who in course of industrial
employment endanger their own lives in saving or endeavouring
to save the lives of others from perils incurred in connexion with
such industrial employment."
Certain important medals and decorations for saving life
are not the gift of the Crown. These are allowed to be worn
in uniform on the' right breast. They are the medals of the
Royal Humane Society, those given by the Board of Trade
for gallantry in saving life at sea, the medals of the Royal
National Lifeboat Institution, those of the Shipwrecked Fisher-
men and Mariners' Royal Benevolent Society, Lloyd's Honorary
Silver Medal, Liverpool Shipwrecked and Humane Society's
Medals, and the Stanhope Gold Medal.
AH these are suspended from a dark blue ribbon with the exception
of the medals of the S.F. and M. Royal Benevolent Society, which
has a light blue ribbon, and the Stanhope Gold Medal which has
a broad dark blue centre, edged with yellow, and black borders.
These medals are usually struck in silver or bronze, but occasionally
gold medals are awarded. The Stanhope Gold Medal is annually
awarded for the most gallant of all the acts of rescue for which
the society have awarded medals during the year. This award has
been frequently earned by officers or men of the Royal Navy. It
is, in fact, the " Victoria Cross " of awards of this character.
The following are decorations for special merit: —
I. Order of British India. — Instituted by General Order of
Governor-General of India, 17th of April 1837. 1st Class— A
gold star of eight points radiated, if in. in diameter, between
the two top points the crown of England. In the centre, on a
ground of light blue enamel, a gold lion statant, within a band of
dark blue enamel, containing in gold letters ORDER OF BRITISH
INDIA, the whole encircled by a gold laurel wreath. The whole
hangs from the ribbon by a gold loop attached by a ring to the top
of the crown, and is worn round the neck, outside the uniform.
Ribbon: originally sky-blue, changed to crimson 1838. 2nd Class —
Gold star similar to that of the 1 st Class, but smaller, I § in. diameter,
and without the crown. The centre also is similar to that of the
1st Class star, but the enamelling is all dark blue. Suspended and
worn as in the 1st Class. Ribbon: As in 1st Class.
This, the highest military distinction to which in the ordinary
course native officers of the Indian Army can attain, and confined
to them, is a reward for long, honourable and specially meritorious
service. The 1st Class is composed exclusively of officers of and
above the rank of Subadar in the artillery and infantry, or of
a corresponding rank in the other branches of the service. The
2nd Class is open to all native commissioned officers, irrespective
of their rank. Originally the order was limited to 100 in the
1st Class and the same number in the 2nd, but it now comprises
215 in the 1st Class and 324. in the 2nd Class. Officers in the
1st Class are entitled to the title of " Sirdar Bahadur," and receive
a daily allowance of two rupees in addition to the pay, allowances
or pension of their rank, while those of the 2nd Class are styled
" Bahadur," and receive an extra one rupee per diem.
2. Ability and Good Conduct. — Instituted in 1842. Obverse:
A paddle-wheel steamship. Reverse: Crown and anchor, and
inscribed, FOR ABILITY AND GOOD CONDUCT. Ribbon:
None authorized.
No official documents as regards the institution of this decoration
are now to be found at the Admiralty, but only engineers were
eligible for the award, and it carried no gratuity or annuity. Only
six were ever awarded. When, in 1847, engineers were raised to
the rank of warrant officers, the issue of this decoration was dis-
continued. It had a ring for suspension, and was probably worn
with the narrow navy blue ribbon of the " Long Service and Good
Conduct " medal of the period.
3. Meritorious Service {Army and Royal Marines). — Instituted
by Royal Warrant, 19th December 1845, for army only; grant
extended to Royal Marines by Order in Council, 15th January
1849. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria as on China medal. 1
Reverse: FOR MERITORIOUS SERVICE, within a laurel wreath.
Ribbon: ^Crimson for army (Plate II.); navy blue for Royal
Marines. Only non-commissioned officers of or above the rank
of sergeant are eligible for this decoration. It carries with it an
annuity not exceeding £20 per annum ; but, as the total sum avail-
able is strictly limited, the number of these medals that is issued
is small, and a non-commissioned officer who is recommended may
have to wait many years before his turn comes and he receives
the award. The qualification for recommendation is long, efficient
and meritorious service, and need not necessarily, although in many
cases it does, include any special display of personal gallantry in
action. For many years the " meritorious service " medal was
considered to cancel the " long service and good conduct " medal,
but by A.O. 250 of 1902 both medals can be worn together. 2 ;
4. The Distinguished Service Order (see Knighthood) is giyert
only to officers (and naval and military officials of officer rank, not
including Indian native officers) for services in war. Often it is
the reward of actual conspicuous gallantry under fire, but its purpose,
as defined in the Royal Warrant instituting the order, is to reward
" individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service, in
war; " and the same document declares that only those shall be
eligible who have been mentioned " in despatches for meritorious
or distinguished service in the field, or before the enemy." In the
main, therefore, it is awarded for special services in war, and not
necessarily under fire; and although the services rewarded are as
a fact generally rendered in action, the order is in no sense a sort
of second class of the Victoria Cross. Like the latter, the Dis-
tinguished Service Order is generally referred to by its initials.
§. The Royal Red Cross is also an Order. Membership is re-
stricted to women (not necessarily British subjects), and is given as
a reward for naval or military nursing service. Instituted 1883.
6. The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal is given for public services in India.
7. The Volunteer Officers' Decoration. — Instituted in 1892. Ah
oval of silver, crossed at intervals with gold, in the centre the
monogram V.R. and crown in gold. Worn from a ring. Ribbon:
Dark green. .
This decoration was instituted in 1892, and is the reward of
twenty years' service in the commissioned ranks of the volunteer
force. It is generally called the " V.D. " Since the conversion of
the Volunteer into the Territorial Force (1908) it has been replaced
by THE TERRITORIAL OFFICERS' DECORATION. Officers
of the Royal Naval Reserve and of the Royal Na„val Volunteer
Reserve are eligible for a similar decoration (1910).
8. The Long Service and Good Conduct {Army) Medal was instituted
in 1833. Obverse: A trophy of arms. 3 Reverse: FOR LONG
SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT. Ribbon: Crimson, as for
" Meritorious Service " medal (Plate II.).
This is a reward for " long service with irreproachable character
and conduct," t he qualifying period of service being 18 years. ,
1 Now naval effigy of King Edward VII., as on Transport Service
medal.
s Other " Meritorious " or " Long Service " medals worn with
a crimson ribbon are the former Long Service medal of the H.E.I.
Company's European troops and the Meritorious and Long Service
medals of the Indian Native Army.
' Now replaced by military effigy of King Edward VII.
i8
MEDEA
9. The Long Service and Good Conduct (Navy) Medal was in-
tituted in 1831. Ribbon: Blue, with white edges (Plate II.).
10. The Volunteer Long Service Medal. — Instituted in 1894
Has a green ribbon. Obverse: Effigj' of Queen Victoria. Reverse:
A scroll within a wreath, inscribed FOR LONG SERVICE IN THE
VOLUNTEER FORCE. Replaced by the Territorial Long Service
Medal (1908), of which the ribbon is green with a yellow centre;
And the obverse a bust of the king. The Militia Long Service
Medal (1904) has a light blue ribbon, the Imperial Yeomanry Long
Service Medal a yellow ribbon, the Honourable Artillery Company's
Medal a black, red and yellow ribbon. All these are shown on
Plate II. 1
11. The Medal for the Best Shot in the Army was instituted in
(869 Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria (now effigy of King
Edward VII.). Reverse: A winged Victory crowning a warrior.
Ribbon : Red, with two narrow black stripes on each edge, the
two black stripes being divided by a narrow white one. There is
also a " Best Shot " Medal for the Indian Native Army, which
has an o'range ribbon.
12. The Medal for Naval Gunnery was instituted in 1903. Ribbon:
Red centre, flanked by two narrow white stripes, two broad blue
stripes at edges (Plate II.).
Amongst medals of the last class may be mentioned the Jubilee
Medals of 1887 and. 1897, the Coronation Medal of 1902, the Royal
Victorian Medal (this, however, is a sort of sixth class of the Royal
Victorian Order, for which see Knighthood) and the medals
awarded for Durbars.
United States. — The war medals and decorations of the
United States, although few in number, are interesting, as
they follow a peculiar system in the colours of the ribbons.
The principal military decoration of the United States is the
" Medal of Honor," which was founded for the reward of unusual
bravery or special good conduct during the Civil War. In its
present form it is a five-pointed star, with a medallion in the
centre bearing a head of Minerva and round it UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA in relief. On each ray of the star is an oak-leaf,
and the points themselves are trefoil shaped. A laurel wreath,
in green enamel, encircles the whole, and this wreath is surmounted
by VALOR, which in turn is surmounted by an eagle that attaches
the decoration to its ribbon. This last is blue, with thirteen white
stars worked on it in silk. Accompanying this decoration there is
a badge or lapel button, hexagonal, and made of blue silk with the
thirteen stars in white.
The original form of the decoration had no encircling wreath ;
on the rays, instead of the oak-leaves, were small wreaths of laurei
and oak, and the design in the central medallion was a figure of
Minerva standing, with her left hand resting upon a consul's fasces
and her right warding off with a shield the figure of Discord. The
background was formed by thirty-four stars. The decoration
was surmounted by a trophy of crossed guns, swords, &c, with
eagle above, and the ribbon was designed of the national colours,
as follows: thirteen alternate red and white stripes, and across
the ribbon at the top a broad band of blue (palewise gules and
argent and a chief azure). The ribbon was attached to the coat
by a clasp badge bearing two cornucopias and the arms of the
U.S. The present decoration does not have this badge, but is
suspended from a concealed bar brooch.
Another special decoration is the " Merit " Medal. This bears
on the obverse an eagle, surrounded by the inscription VIRTVTIS
ET AVDACIAE MONVMENTVM ET PRAEMIVM, and on the
reverse the inscription FOR MERIT, surrounded by an oak-leaf
wreath; in the upper part of the exergue is UNITED STATES
ARMY, in the lower thirteen stars. The ribbon is red, white and
blue, in six stripes, two red stripes divided by a fine white line
in the centre, two white on either side of the red and two blue
forming the two outer edges.
We come now to the war medals proper, issued generally to all
those who took part in the events commemorated.
The Civil War Medal bears on the obverse the portrait of Lincoln,
surrounded by an inscription taken from his famous Second Inau-
gural— WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE, WITH CHARITY
FOR ALL. On the reverse is the inscription THE CIVIL WAR,
1861-1865 surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves and olive branches.
The ribbon is somewhat similar to that last described; the blue
stripe, however, is in the centre, divided as before by a white line,
and the red stripes form the outer edges.
The " Indian Wars " Medal is interesting from the fact that its
reverse was copied on other medals, this making it, in a sense, a
" general service " medal. On the obverse is a mounted Indian
in war costume bearing a spear, in the upper part of the exergue
INDIAN WARS, in the lower a buffalo's skull with arrow-heads
on either side. What we have called the " general service " design
1 By Royal Warrant of 31st of May 1895, medals both for
distinguished conduct in the field and for long service were author-
ized to be awarded by the various colonies possessing regular or
volunteer troops, " under regulations similar, as far as circumstances
permit, to those now ranking for Our Regular and Auxiliary Forces."
on the reverse is composed of (a) an eagle perched on a cannon,
supported by five standards (typifying the five great wars of the
United States), rifles, Indian shield, spear and arrows, Filipino
dagger and Cuban machete; (b) below this trophy the words FOR
SERVICE; (c) in exergue, above, UNITED STATES ARMY,
below, thirteen stars.
Ribbon of the Indian Medal, vermilion, with deep red edges.
The " War with Spain " Medal bears on the obverse a castle
with two flanking towers; in exergue, above, WAR WITH SPAIN,
below, the date 1898, with, on one side of it, a branch of the tobacco-
plant, and on the other a sugar-cane. Reverse: As for " Indian
Wars " Medal. Ribbon: Centre golden-yellow, with two red
stripes close to the edges, the edges themselves being narrow stripes
of blue.
The " Philippine Insurrection " Medal bears on the obverse a
coco-nut palm tree, with, on the left of it, a lamp (typifying En-
lightenment), and on the right a balance (representing Justice).
This is encircled by the inscription PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION
1899. The ribbon is blue, with two red stripes near the edges.
Reverse: As in " Indian Wars " Medal.
Another medal connected with the Filipino insurrection is the
so-called " Congressional " Medal, which was designed to commemo-
rate the participation in the war of regulars and volunteers, North-
erners and Southerners, side by side. On the obverse is a colour-
party of infantry with the national flag, the fly of the flag extending
almost to the edge of the medal. Below is the date, 1899, and
above, in a semicircle, PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION. The
reverse has the inscription FOR PATRIOTISM, FORTITUDE
AND LOYALTY, surrounded by a wreath of oak-leaves (typifying
the North) and palm branches (typifying the South). The ribbon
is blue, edged by narrow stripes of the national colours, the blue
being nearest the edge and the red nearest the centre.
The " China Relief " Medal bears on the obverse a Chinese
dragon, surrounded by the inscription CHINA RELIEF EX-
PEDITION, and at bottom, the date 1900-1. Reverse: As for
"Indian Wars" medal. Ribbon: Lemon-yellow, with narrow
blue edges.
It is interesting to note that in the case of two of these medals
the national colours of the enemy (Spain and China) furnish those
of the ribbon. The national colours adopted by the Filipinos were
red and blue, and these also figure, in spite of their similarity to
the U.S. national colours, on the ribbons of the " Filipino " and
" Congressional " Medals. The Indian ribbon is, similarly, of the
colour of the enemy's war paint — vermilion. See, for illustrations
and further details of all these medals and decorations, Journal of
the [U.S.] Military Service Institution, May-June 1909. Some of
the badges of membership of associations of veterans, such as the
Loyal Legion, are allowed to be worn as war medals in uniform.
The " Rescue " Medal, in gold or silver, is awarded for bravery in
saving life by land or sea.
Other Countries. — As has been mentioned above, foreign
decorations for military service usually take the form of Orders
in many classes. There are, however, numerous long service
decorations, which need not be specified. The most famous
of the European war and service decorations are the Prussian
Iron Cross, the French Medaille Militaire, and the Russian
St George's Cross; all these are individual decorations.
The Iron Cross is given to officers and soldiers for distinguished
service in war. It was founded, in the enthusiasm of the War of
Liberation movement, on the loth of March 1813, and revived at
the outbreak of the " War for Unity " against France, 19th of July
1870. The cross is a Maltese cross of cast iron edged with silver.
The 1813-15 crosses have the initials F. W. (Friedrich Wilhelm)
in the centre, a crown in the upper limb of the cross, and the date
in the lower. Those of 1870 have W. (Wilhelm) in the centre,
crown on the upper and date on the lower limb of the cross. There
are certain distinctions between the Grand Cross, which is worn at
the neck, the 1st Class Cross which is worn as an Order suspended
from a ribbon, and the 2nd Class Cross, which is worn on the breast.
In 1870 war medals were given, bearing on the obverse a Maltese
cross superposed on a many-pointed star, and having in its centre
1870-1871 within a wreath. The reverse has W. and a crown,
with, for combatants the inscription Dem siegreichen Heere, and
for non-combatants Fur Pflichttreue im Kriege, in each case sur-
rounded by the words Gott war mit uns. Ihm sei die Ehre. The
award of the Iron Cross to the rank and file carries with it an allow-
ance of 3-6 marks monthly. (H. L. S. ; C. F. A.)
MEDEA (Gr. MrjSaa), in Greek legend, a famous sorceress,
daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis. Having been thrown
into prison by her father, who was afraid of being injured by
her witchcraft, she escaped by means of her art and fled to the
temple of Helios the Sun-god, her reputed grandfather. She
fell in love with Jason the Argonaut, who reached Colchis at
this time, and exacted a terrible revenge for his faithlessness
(see Argonauts and Jason). After the murder of Jason's
MEDELLIN— MEDFORD
19
second wife and her own children, she fled from Corinth in her
car drawn by dragons, the gift of Helios, to Athens, where
she married king Aegeus, by whom she had a son, Medus. But
the discovery of an attempt on the life of Theseus, the son of
Aegeus, forced her to leave Athens (Apollodorus i. 9, 28;
Pausanias ii. 3, 6-11; Diod. Sic. iv. 45, 46, 54-56). Accom-
panied by her son, she returned to Colchis, and restored her
father to the throne, of which he had been deprived by his own
brother Perses. Medus was regarded as the eponymous hero
and progenitor of the Medes. Medea was honoured as a goddess
at Corinth, and was said to have become the wife of Achilles
in the Elysian fields. The chief seat of her cult, however, was
Thessaly, which was always regarded as the home of magic.
As time went on her character was less favourably described.
In the case of Jason and the Argonauts, she plays the part of
a kindly, good-natured fairy; Euripides, however, makes her a
barbarous priestess of Hecate, while the Alexandrian writers
depicted her in still darker colours. Some authorities regard
Medea as a lunar divinity, but the ancient conception of her
as a Thessalian sorceress is probably correct. The popularity
of the story of Jason and Medea in antiquity is shown by the
large amount of literature on the subject. The original story
was probably contained in an old epic poem called Mivvas
ToiT/tns, the authorship of which was ascribed to Prodicus of
Phocaea. It is given at some length in the fourth Pythian ode
of Pindar, and forms the subject of the Argonautica of Apollonius
Rhodius. There is a touching epistle {Medea to Jason) in the
Heroides of Ovid. Medea is the heroine of extant tragedies
of Euripides and Seneca; those of Aeschylus and Ennius (adapted
from Euripides) are lost. Neophron of Sicyon and Melanthius
wrote plays of the same name. Among modern writers on the
same theme may be mentioned T. Corneille, F. Grillparzer
and M. Cherubini (opera).
The death of Glauce and the murder of her children by Medea
Was frequently represented in ancient art. In the famous
picture of Tomomachus of Byzantium Medea is deliberating
whether or not she shall kill her children; there are copies of
this painting in the mural decorations of Herculaneum and
Pompeii.
See Leon Mallinger, Medee: etude sur la litlerature comparSe, an
account of Medea in Greek, Roman, middle age and modern literature
(1898); and the articles in Daremberg and Saglio's Dictionnaire des
antiquites and Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie.
MEDELLIN, a city of Colombia and capital of the department
of Antioquia, 1 50 m. N.W. of Bogota, on a plateau of the Central
Cordillera, 4823 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1006 estimate),
50,000. Medellin, the foundation of which dates from 1674,
stands in the valley of the Porce, a tributary of the Cauca, and
is reputed to be one of the healthiest as well as one of the most
attractive cities of the republic. It has a university, national
college, school of mines and other educational institutions,
assaying and refining laboratories, a public library and a mint.
The principal industry of the surrounding country is mining,
and gold and silver are exported in considerable quantities.
Coffee and hides are also exported, but the trade of the city
has been greatly impeded by difficulties of transportation. A
railway from Puerto Berrio, on the Magdalena, was begun many
years before the end of the 19th century, but political 'and
financial difficulties interposed and work was suspended when
only 43 m. were finished. The completion of the remaining
80 m. was part of a larger scheme proposed in 1906 for bring-
ing the Cauca Valley into railway communication with the
national capital.
MEDEMBLIK, a seaport of Holland, on the Zuider Zee, the
terminus of a branch railway from Hoorn, 105 m. S. Pop.
(1903), 3012. Once the capital of West Friesland and a pro-
sperous town, many of its streets and quays are now deserted,
though the docks and basins constructed at the end of the 16th
and beginning of the 17th centuries could still afford excellent
accommodation for many ships. Close to the harbour entrance
stands the castle built by Florens V., count of Holland, in 1285.
It has been restored, and is used as a court of justice. The
West church, formerly called after St Boniface, the apostle of
Germany, was once the richest in Friesland, and belonged from
an early date to the cathedral chapter at Utrecht, where, until
the Reformation, the pastor of Medemblik had a seat in the
cathedral. It contains the tomb of Lord George Murray (q.v.).
Among the public buildings are the town-hall (17th century),
weigh-house, orphanage, the old almshouse, the house (1613)
of the Water Commissioners, and a large building formerly
belonging to the admiralty and now used as a state lunatic
asylum. There are many interesting brick houses, dating chiefly
from the first half of the 17th century, with curious gables
and picturesque ornamentation, carvings and inscriptions.
MEDFORD, a city, including several villages, of Middlesex
county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., on the Mystic river and Lakes,
5 m. N. by W. of Boston. Pop. (1900), 18,244, of whom 4327
were foreign-born; (1910 census) 23,150. The city is served
by the Southern Division and a branch of the Western Division
of the Boston & Maine railroad, and is connected with Boston
and neighbouring cities by electric railways. The Mystic
River, a tidewater stream, is navigable for small craft as far
as the centre of the city. There are manufactures of considerable
importance, including bricks and tiles, woollen goods, carriages
and wagons, food products, iron and steel building materials
and machinery. The city covers a land area of about 8 sq. m.,
along the Mystic river, and extending to the hills. The western
portion borders the Upper and Lower Mystic Lakes, which are
centres for boating. In the north-west portion of Medford is
a part of the Middlesex Fells, a heavily wooded reserve belonging
to the extensive Metropolitan Park System maintained by the
state. The broad parkways of this system also skirt the Mystic
Lakes, and here is the greater part (1907, 267 out of 291 acres)
of the Mystic River Reservation of the Metropolitan System.
Among the city parks are Hastings, Brooks, Logan, Tufts and
Magoun. Within the city limits are some of the oldest and
most interesting examples of colonial domestic architecture
in America, including the so-called " Cradock House " (actually
the Peter Tufts house, built in 1677-1680), the " Wellington
House," built in 1657, and the " Royall House." The last was
built originally by Governor John Winthrop for the tenants
of his Ten Hills Farm, and was subsequently enlarged and
occupied by Lieut.-Governor John Usher, and by Isaac Royall '
(c. 1720-1781) and his son, Isaac Royall, Jun.
Medford has a public library of about 35,200 volumes, housed
in the colonial residence (reconstructed) of Thatcher Magoun.
The city has also a city hall, a high school and manual training
school, an opera house, and one of the handsomest armory
buildings in the country (the home of the Lawrence Light
Guard), presented by General Samuel C. Lawrence (b. 1832),
a liberal benefactor of Medford institutions and the first mayor
of the city (1892-1894). The Salem St. Burying Ground,
dating from 1689, is one of the oldest burial places in America.
The Medford Historical Society maintains a library and museum
in the birthplace of Lydia Maria Child. Medford is the seat
of Tufts College, planned and founded as a Universalist institu-
tion in 1852 by Hosea Ballou, its first president, and others,
and named in honour of Charles Tufts (1781-1876), a successful
manufacturer, who gave the land on which it stands. The
college, which had 1120 students and 217 instructors in 1909,
comprises a college of letters, a divinity school, and a school
of engineering (all in Medford), and medical and dental schools
in Boston; it is now undenominational. Among the twelity
college buildings, the Barnum Museum of Natural History
(r885) founded by Phineas T. Barnum, and the Eaton Memorial
Library (1907), presented by Mrs Andrew Carnegie in memory
of her pastor, are noteworthy. The college endowment amounted
in 1908 to $2,300,000.
Medford was first settled in 1630. A considerable portion
of its area formed the plantation of Matthew Cradock (d. 1641),
first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company, who in 1630
1 A prominent Loyalist, whose estate was seized during the War
of Independence, but was restored to his heirs about 1800. He
endowed the first professorship of law in America — at Harvard
College.
20
MEDHANKARA— MEDIA
sent out agents to settle his lands. John Winthrop's " Ten
Hills Farm," partly within the present limits of Medford, was
settled soon afterwards. One of the earliest industries was
ship-building, John Winthrop's " Blessing of the Bay," built on
the Mystic in 1631-^632, being one of the first keels laid on the
continent. In 1802 Thatcher Magoun began building sea-going
vessels, and many of the famous privateers of the War of 181 2
were constructed here. By 1845 Medford employed fully a
quarter of all the shipwrights of the state. The industry gradually
lost its importance after the introduction of steamships, and
the last keel was laid in 1873. Another early industry was
the distilling of rum; this was carried on for two centuries,
especially by the Hall family and, after about 1830, by the
Lawrence family, but was discontinued in 1905. The manufac-
ture of brick and tile was an important industry in the 17th
century. The Cradock bridge, the first toll-bridge in New
England, was built across the Mystic in 1638; over it for
1 50 years ran the principal thoroughfare, from Boston to Maine
and New Hampshire. The course of Paul Revere's ride lay
through Medford Square and High Street, and. within a half-
hour of his passage the Medford minute men were on their way
to Lexington and Concord, where they took part in the engage-
ments with the British. After the Battle of Saratoga many of
Burgoyne's officers were quartered here for the winter. The
Middlesex Canal was opened through Medford in 1803, and
the Boston & Lowell railroad (now the southern division
of the Boston & Maine) in i83r. Medford was chartered as a
city in 1892.
See Charles Brooks, History of the Town of Medford (Boston, 1855 ;
enlarged by J. M. Usher, Boston, 1886); Historical Register of the
Medford Historical Society (1898 et seq.); Proceedings of the 2J$th
Anniversary of the Settlement of Medford (Medford, 1905) ; S. A.
Drake, History of Middlesex County (2 vols., Boston, 1880) and
Helen Tilden Wild, Medford in the Revolution (Medford, 1903).
MEDHANKARA, the name of several distinguished members,
in medieval times, of the Buddhist order. The oldest flourished
about a.d. 1200, and was the author of the Vinaya Artha
Samuccaya, a work in the Sinhalese language on Buddhist
canon law. Next to him came Arannaka Medhankara, who
presided over the Buddhist council held at Polonnaruwa, then
the capital of Ceylon, in 1250. The third Vanaratana Medhan-
kara, flourished in 1280, and wrote a poem in Pali, Jina Carita,
on the life of the Buddha. He also wrote the Payoga Siddhi.
The fourth was the celebrated scholar to whom King Parakrama
Bahu IV. of Ceylon entrusted in 1307 the translation from Pali
into Sinhalese of the Jalaka book, the most voluminous extant
work in Sinhalese. The fifth, a Burmese, was called the Sang-
haraja Nava Medhankara, and wrote in Pali a work entitled
the Loka Padipa Sura, on cosmogony and allied subjects.
See the Journal of the Pali Text Society, 1882, p. 126; 1886, pp. 62,
67, 72; 1890, p. 63; 1896, p. 43; Mahavamsa, ch. xl., verse 85.
(T. W. R. D.)
MEDHURST, WALTER HENRY (1796-1857), English Con-
gregationalist missionary to China, was born in London and
educated at St Paul's school. He learned the business of a
printer, and having become interested in Christian missions
he sailed in 1816 for the London Missionary Society's station
at Malacca, which was intended to be a great printing-centre.
He became proficient in Malay, in a knowledge of the written
characters of Chinese, and in the colloquial use of more than
one of its dialects. He was ordained at Malacca in 1819, and
engaged in missionary labours, first at Penang, then at Batavia,
and finally, when peace was concluded with China in 1842,
at Shanghai. There he continued till 1856, laying the foundations
of a successful mission. His principal labour for several years,
as one of a committee of delegates, was in the revision of existing
Chinese versions of the Bible. The result was a version (in High
Wen-li) marvellously correct and faithful to the original. With
John Stronach he also translated the New Testament into the
Mandarin dialect of Nanking. His Chinese-English and English-
Chinese dictionaries (each in 2 vols.) are still valuable, and to
him the British public owed its understanding of the teaching
of Hung-Sew-Tseuen, the leader of the Tai-ping rising (1851-64).
The university of New York conferred upon him in 1843 the
degree of D.D. Medhurst left Shanghai in 1856 in failing
health, and died two days after reaching London, on the 24th
of January 1857. His son, Sir Walter Henry Medhurst (1822-
1885), was British consul at Hankow and afterwards at Shanghai.
MEDIA, the ancient name of the north-western part of Iran,
the country of the Medes, corresponding to the modern provinces
of Azerbaijan, Ardelan, Irak Ajemi, and parts of Kurdistan.
It is separated from Armenia and the lowlands on the Tigris
(Assyria) by the mighty ranges of the Zagros (mountains of
Kurdistan; in its northern parts probably called Choatras,
Plin. v. 98), and in the north by the valley of the Araxes (Aras).
In the east it extends towards the Caspian Sea; but the high
chains of mountains which surround the Caspian Sea (the
Parachoathras of the ancients and the Elburz, separate it from
the coast, and the narrow plains on the border of the sea (Gilan,
the country of the Gelae and Amardi, and Mazandaran, in
ancient times inhabited by the Tapuri) cannot be reckoned
as part of Media proper. The greater par t of Media is a mountain-
ous plateau, about 3000-5000 ft. above the sea; but it contains
some fertile plains. The climate is temperate, with cold winters,
in strong contrast to the damp and unwholesome air of the
shores of the Caspian, where the mountains are covered with a
rich vegetation. Media contains only one river, which reaches
the sea, the Send Rud (Amardus), which flows into the Caspian;
but a great many, streams are exhausted after a short course,,
and in the north-west is a large lake, the lake of Urumiah or
Urmia. 1 From the mountains in the west spring some great
tributaries of the Tigris, viz. the Diyala (Gyndes) and the Kerkheh
(Choaspes). Towards the south-east Media passes into the
great central desert of Iran, which eastwards of Rhagae (mod.
Rai, near Teheran), in the region of the " Caspian gates,"
reaches to the foot of the Elburz chain. On a tract of about
150 m. the western part of Iran is connected with the east
(Khoiasan, Parthyaea) only by a narrow district (Choarene and
Comisene), where human dwellings and small villages can exist.
The people of the Mada, Medes (the Greek form Mrj&oi. is
Ionian for Mddoi.) appear in history first in 836 B.C., when
the Assyrian conqueror Shalmaneser II. in his wars against
the tribes of the Zagros received the tribute of the Amadai
(this form, with prosthetic a-, which occurs only here, has many
analogies in the names of Iranian tribes). His successors under-
took many expeditions against the Medes (Madai). Sargon in
715 and 713 subjected them "to the far mountain Bikni," i.e.
the Elburz (Demavend) and the borders of the desert. They
were divided into many districts and towns, under petty local
chieftains; from the names which the Assyrian inscriptions
mention, we learn that they were an Iranian tribe and that
they had already adopted the religion of Zoroaster. In spite
of different attempts of some chieftains to shake off the Assyrian
yoke (cf. the information obtained from prayers to the Sun-god
for oracles against these rebels: Knudtzon, Assyrische Gebete
an den Sonnengott), Media remained tributary to Assyria under
Sargon's successors, Sennacherib, Esar-haddon and Assur-bani-
pal.
Herodotus, i. 101, gives a list of six Median tribes (yivta),
among them the Paraetaceni, the inhabitants of the mountainous
highland of Paraetacene, the district of Isfahan, and the Magoi,
i.e. the Magians, the hereditary caste of the priests, who in
Media took the place of the " fire-kindlers " (athravan) of the
Zoroastrian religion, and who spread from Media to Persia
and to the west. But the Iranian Medes were not the only
inhabitants of the country. The names in the Assyrian inscrip-
tions prove that the tribes in the Zagros and the northern
parts of Media were not Iranians nor Indo-Europeans, but an
aboriginal population, like the early inhabitants of Armenia,
perhaps connected with the numerous tribes of the Caucasus.
1 Anc. Mantiane, Strabo xi. 529; Martiane, Ptol. vi. 2, 5,
probably identical with the name Matiane, Matiene, by which
Herodotus i. 189, 202, iii. 94, v. 49, 52 (in i. 72 and vii. 72 they seem
to be a different people in Asia Minor); Polyb. v. 44, 9; Strabo i.
49, ii. 73, xi. 509, 514, 523, 525; Plin vi. 48, designate the northern
part of Media.
MEDIA
We can see how the Iranian element gradually became dominant:
princes with Iranian names occasionally occur as rulers of these
tribes. But the Gelae, Tapuri, Cadusii, Amardi, Utii and other
tribes in northern Media and on the shores of the Caspian were
not Iranians. With them Polybius v. 44, 9, Strabo xi. 507,
508, 514, and Pliny vi. 46, mention the Anariaci, whom they
consider as a particular tribe; but in reality their name, the
" Not-Arians," is the comprehensive designation of all these
small tribes.
In the second half of the 7th century the Medians gained their
independence and were united by a dynasty, which, if we may
trust Herodotus, derived its origin from Deioces (q.v.), a Median
chieftain in the Zagros, who was, with his kinsmen, transported
by Sargon to Hamath (Hamah) in Syria in 715 b.c. The
kings, who created the Median Empire, were Phraortes and his
son Cyaxares. Probably they were chieftains of a nomadic
Median tribe in the desert, the Manda, mentioned by Sargon;
for the Babylonian king Nabonidus designates the Medians
and their kings always as Manda. The origin and history
of the Median Empire is quite obscure, as we possess almost
no contemporary information, and not a single monument
or inscription from Media itself. Our principal source is
Herodotus, who wrongly makes Deioces the first king and
uniter of the whole nation, and dates their independence from
c. 710 — i.e. from the time when the Assyrian supremacy was
at its height. But his account contains real historical elements,
whereas the story which Ctesias gave (a list of nine kings, begin-
ning with Arbaces, who is said to have destroyed Nineveh
about 880 B.C., preserved in Diod. ii. 32 sqq. and copied by many
later authors) has no historical value whatever, although some
of his names may be derived from local traditions. According
to, Herodotus, the conquests of Cyaxares were interrupted
by an invasion of the Scythians, who founded an empire
in western Asia, which lasted twenty-eight years. From
the Assyrian prayers to the Sun-god, mentioned above, we
learn that the Median dynasts, who tried rebellions against
the Assyrians in the time of Esar-haddon and Assur-bani-pal,
were allied with chieftains of the Cimmerians (who had come
from the northern shore of the Black Sea and invaded Armenia
and Asia Minor), of the Saparda, Ashguza and other tribes; and
from Jeremiah and Zephaniah we know that a great invasion
of Syria and Palestine by northern barbarians really took place
in 626 B.C. With these facts the traditions of Herodotus must
in some way be connected; but at present it is impossible to
regain the history of these times. The only certain facts are that
in 606 Cyaxares succeeded in destroying Nineveh and the other
cities of Assyria (see Phraortes and Deioces).
From then the Median king ruled over the greatest part of
Iran, Assyria and northern Mesopotamia, Armenia and Cappa-
docia. His power was very dangerous to their neighbours,
and the exiled Jews expected the destruction of Babylonia by
the Medes (Isa. xiii., xiv., xxi.; Jerem. 1. Ii.). When, Cyaxares
attacked Lydia, the kings of Cilicia and Babylon intervened and
negotiated a peace in 585, by which the Halys was established
as the boundary. Nebuchadrezzar married a daughter of Cya-
xares, and an equilibrium of the great powers was maintained
till the rise of Cyrus.
About the internal organization of the Median Empire we
know only that the Greeks derive a great part of the ceremonial
of the Persian court, the costume of the king, &c, from Media.
But it is certain that the national union of the Median clans
was the work of their kings; and probably the capital Ecbatana
(q.v.) was created by them.
By the rebellion of Cyrus, king of Persia, against his suzerain
Astyages, the son of Cyaxares, in 553, and his victory in 550,
the Medes were subjected to the Persians. In the new empire
they retained a prominent position; in honour and war they
stood next to the Persians; the ceremonial of their court was
adopted by the new sovereigns who in the summer months
resided in Ecbatana, and many noble Medes were employed
as officials, satraps and generals. After the assassination of the
usurper Smerdis, a Mede Fravartish (Phraortes), who pretended
21
to be of the race of Cyaxares, tried to restore the Median
kingdom, but was defeated by the Persian generals and executed
in Ecbatana (Darius in the Behistun inscr.). Another rebellion
in 409, against Darius II. (Xenophon, Hellen. i. 2, 19) was of
-short duration. But the non-Aryan tribes of the north, especially
the Cadusians, were always troublesome; many abortive expe-
ditions of the later kings against them are mentioned.
Under the Persian rule the country was divided into two
satrapies. The south, with Ecbatana and Rhagae (Rai)
Media proper, or " Great Media," as.it is often called, formed
in Darius' organization the eleventh satrapy (Herodotus iii.
92), together with the Paricanians and Orthocorybantians; the
north, the district of Matiane (see above), together with the
mountainous districts of the Zagros and Assyria proper (east
of the Tigris) was united with the Alarodians and Saspirians in
eastern Armenia, and formed the eighteenth satrapy (Herod,
ni. 94; cf. v. 49, 52, vii. 72). When the empire decayed and
the Carduchi and other mountainous tribes made themselves
independent, eastern Armenia became a special satrapy, while
Assyria seems to have been united with Media; therefore
Xenophon in the Anabasis ii. 4, 27; iii. 5, 15; vii. 8, 25; cf. iii.
4, 8 sqq. always designates Assyria by the name of Media.
Alexander occupied Media in the summer of 330; in 328 he
appointed Atropates, a former general of Darius (Arrian iii.
8, 4), as satrap (iv. 18, 3, vi, 29, 3), whose daughter was married
to Perdiccas in 324 (Arrian vii. 4, S ). In the partition of his
empire, southern Media was given to the Macedonian Peithon;
but the north, which lay far off and was of little importance
for the generals who fought for the inheritance of Alexander,
was left to Atropates. While southern Media with Ecbatana
passed to the rule of Antigonus, and afterwards (about 310) to
Seleucus I.; Atropates maintained himself in his satrapy and
succeeded in founding an independent kingdom. Thus the
partition of the country, which the Persian had introduced,
became lasting; the north was named Atropatene (in Plin.
vi. 42, Atrapatene; in Ptolem. vi. 2, 5, Tropatene; in Polyb s
v. 44 and 55 corrupted in ra ffarpajrua KaKov/itva) , after the
founder of the dynasty, a name which is preserved in the
modern Azerbaijan; cf. Noldeke, " Atropatene," in Zeitschrift
der deutscken morgenl. Gesellschaft, 34, 692 sqq. and Marquart,
Eranshahr, p. 108 sqq. The capital was Gazaca in the central
plain, and the strong castle Phraaspa (Dio Cass. xlix. 26; Plut.
Anton. 38; Ptol. vi. 2, 10) or Vera (Strabo xi. 523), probably
identical with the great ruin Takhti Suleiman, with remains
of Sassanid fire-altars and of a later palace. The kings had a
strong and warlike army, especially cavalry (Polyb. v. 55;
Strabo xi. 253). Nevertheless, King Artabazanes was forced
by Antiochus the Great in 220 to conclude a disadvantageous
treaty (Polyb. v. 55), and in later times the rulers became
in turn dependent on the Parthians, on Tigranes of Armenia,
and in the time of Pompey who defeated their king Darius
(Appian, Mithr. 108), on Antonius (who invaded Atropatene)
and on Augustus of Rome. In the time of Strabo (a.d. 17),
the dynasty existed still (p. 523); in later times the country
seems to have become a Parthian province.
Atropatene is that country of western Asia which was least of
all influenced by Hellenism; there exists not even a single coin
of its rulers. But the opinion of modern authors— that it had
been a special refuge of Zoroastrianism— is based upon a wrong
etymology of the name (which is falsely explained as " country
of fire-worship "), and has no foundation whatever. There ^can
be no doubt that the kings adhered to the Persian religiSn;
but it is not probable that it was deeply rooted among their
subjects, especially among the non-Aryan tribes.
Southern Media remained a province of the Seleucid Empire
for a century and a half, and Hellenism was introduced every-
where. " Media is surrounded everywhere by Greek towns, in
pursuance of the plan of Alexander, which protect it against the
neighbouring barbarians," says Polybius (x. 27). Only Ecbatana
retained its old character. But Rhagae became a Greek town,
Europus; and with it Strabo (xi. 524) names Laodicea, Apamea^
Heraclea or Achais (cf. Plin. vi. 48). Most of them were founded
22
MEDIATION—-MEDIATIZATION
by Seleucus I. and his son Antiochus I. In 221, the satrap
Molon tried to make himself independent (there exist bronze
coins with his name and the royal title), together with his brother
Alexander, satrap of Persis, but they were defeated and killed
by Antiochus the Great. In the same way, in 161, the Median*
satrap Timarchus took the diadem and conquered Babylonia;
on his coins he calls himself " the great king Timarchus";
but this time again the legitimate king, Demetrius I., succeeded
in subduing the rebellion, and Timarchus was slain. But
with Demetrius I. the dissolution of the Seleucid Empire
begins, which was brought on chiefly by the intrigues of the
Romans, and shortly afterwards, about 150, the Parthian king,
Mithradates I. (q.v.), conquered Media (Justin xli. 6). From
this time Media remained subject to the Arsacids, who changed
the name of Rhagae, or Europus, into Arsacia (Strabo xi.
524), and divided the country into five small provinces (Isidorus
Charac). From the Arsacids or Parthians, it passed in a.d. 226
to the Sassanids, together with Atropatene. By this time
the old tribes of Aryan Iran had lost their character and had
been amalgamated into the one nation of the Iranians. The
revival of Zoroastrianism, which was enforced everywhere
by the Sassanids, completed this development. It was only
then that Atropatene became a principal seat of fire-worship,
with many fire-altars. Rhagae now became the most sacred
city of the empire and the seat of the head of the Zoroastrian
hierarchy; the Sassanid Avesta and the tradition of the Parsees
therefore consider Rhagae as the home of the family of the
Prophet. Henceforth the name of Media is used only as a
geographical term and begins to disappear from the living
language; in Persian traditions it occurs under the modern
form Mah (Armen. Mai; in Syriac the old name Madai is
preserved; cf. Marquart, Eranshahr, 18 seq.).
For Mahommedan history see Caliphate; for later history
Seljuks and Persia. (Ed. M.)
MEDIATION (Lat. medius, middle), in the international
sense, the intervention of a third power, on the invitation
or with the consent of two other powers, for the purpose of
arranging differences between the latter without recourse to
war. Mediation may also take place after war has broken
out, with a view to putting an end to it on terms. In either
case the mediating power negotiates on behalf of the parties
who invoke or accept its aid, but does not go farther. Unlike
an arbitrating power the mediator limits his intervention to
suggestion and advice. His action is liable to be arrested at
any time at the will of either party unless otherwise agreed, in
which case to arrest it prematurely would be a breach of good
faith. The difference between mediation and arbitration may
be stated in the words of the Digest (lib. iv. tit. 8, § 13):
" Recepisse autem arbitrium videtur, ut ait Pedius, qui judicis
partes suscepit finemque se sua sententia controversiis imposi-
turum pollicetur. Quod si hactenus intervenit ut experiretur
an concilio suo vel auctoritate discuti litem paterentur, non
videtur arbitrium recepisse."
Some writers distinguish mediation from " good offices,"
but the distinction is of little practical value. We may, if we
please, regard " good offices " as inchoate mediation, and
" mediation " as good offices brought to the birth. Thus we
may say that a third power renders " good offices " when it
brings the parties together so as to make diplomatic negotia-
tions between them possible; whilst if it takes an active
part in those negotiations it becomes for the time being a
mediator. The spontaneous yet successful effort made by
President Roosevelt in 1905 to bring together the Russian
and Japanese governments, and to secure their appointing
delegates to discuss terms of peace, although not strictly
mediation, was closely akin to it.
Of successful mediation in the strict sense there have been
many instances: that of Great Britain, in 1825, between Portugal
and Brazil; of France, in 1849-1850, when differences arose
between Great Britain and Greece ; of the Great Powers, in
1 868-1869, when the relations of Greece and Turkey were strained
to breaking-point by reason of the insurrection in Crete; of
Pope Leo XIII., in 1885, between Germany and Spain in the
matter of the Caroline Islands. In these cases mediation averted
war. The Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the war between
Chile and Peru in 1882, and that between Greece and Turkey
in 1897, are instances of wars brought to a close through the
mediation of neutral powers. Mediation has also been occasion-
ally employed where differences have arisen as to the interpreta-
tion of treaties or as to the mode in which they ought to be
carried out: as when Great Britain mediated between France
and the United States with regard to the Treaty of Paris of
the 4th of July 1830. In one case at least mediation has been
successful after a proposal for arbitration had failed. In 1844,
when war between Spain and Morocco was threatened by reason
of the frequent raids by the inhabitants of the Rif on the Spanish
settlement of Ceuta, Spain declined arbitration on the ground
that her rights were too clear for argument. But both she and
Morocco subsequently accepted joint mediation at the hands
of Great Britain and France.
The cause of mediation was considerably advanced by the
Declaration of Paris of 1856. The plenipotentiaries of Great
Britain, France, Austria, Russia, Sardinia and Turkey recorded
in a protocol, at the instance of Lord Clarendon, their joint wish
that " states between which any misunderstanding might arise
should, before appealing to arms, have recourse so far as circum-
stances might allow {en tant que les drconstances I'admettraient)
to the good offices of a friendly power." Article 8 of the Treaty
of Paris, concluded in the same year, stipulated that " if there
should arise between the Sublime Porte and one or more of
the other signing powers any misunderstanding which might
endanger the maintenance of their relations, the Porte and each
of such powers, before having recourse to the use of force, shall
afford the other contracting parties the opportunity of preventing
such as extremity by means of mediation." These precedents
(in which it will be seen that " good offices " and " mediation "
are used interchangeably) were followed in the general act
agreed to at the Conference held at Berlin in 1884-1885 the
object of which was to secure religious and commercial liberty
and to limit warlike operations in the Congo basin.
A special form of mediation was proposed by a delegate
from the United States at the Peace Conference held at the
Hague in 1899, and was approved by the representatives of
the powers there assembled. The clause in which this proposal
was embodied provided in effect that, whenever there is danger
of a rupture between two powers, each of them shall choose a
third power to which these differences shall be referred, and that,
pending such reference, for a period not exceeding thirty days
(unless the time is extended by agreement) the powers at
issue shall cease to negotiate with each other and leave the
dispute entirely in the hands of the mediating powers. The
powers thus appealed to occupy a position analogous to that
of seconds in a duel, who are authorized to arrange an " affair of
honour " between their principals. This novel device has the
advantage of toning down, if not of eliminating, personal and
national prejudices by which controversy is frequently em-
bittered. It also gets over the difficulty, often met with in
arbitration, of choosing a referee satisfactory to both parties.
The closer the relations between states become, the more their
commercial interests are intertwined, the larger the part which
mediation seems destined to play. It is true that states
which have accepted the intervention of a mediator remain
free to adopt or reject any advice he may give, but the advice ef
a disinterested power must always add considerable moral weight "
to the side towards which it inclines. (M. H. C.)
MEDIATIZATION (Ger. Mediatisierung, from Lat. mediatus,
mediate, middle), the process by which at the beginning of the
19th century, a number of German princes, hitherto sovereign
as holding immediately of the emperor, were deprived of their
sovereignty and mediatized by being placed under that of other
sovereigns. This was first done on a large scale in 1803, when
by a recess of the imperial diet many of the smaller fiefs were
mediatized, in order to compensate those German princes who
had been forced to cede their territories on the left bank of the
MEDICAL EDUCATION
23
Rhine to France. In 1806 the formation of the Confederation
of the Rhine involved an extension of this mediatizing process,
though the abolition of the empire itself deprived the word
" mediatization " of its essential meaning. After the downfall
of Napoleon the powers were besieged with petitions from
the mediatized princes for the restoration of their " liberties ";
but the congress of Vienna (181 5) further extended the process
of mediatization by deciding that certain houses hitherto
immediate (i.e. Salm, Isenburg, Leyen) should only be represented
mediately in the diet of the new Confederation. On the other
hand, at Aix-la-Chapelle (1818) the powers, in response to the
representations of the aggrieved parties, admonished the German
sovereigns to respect the rights of the mediatized princes subject
to them. Of these rights, which included the hereditary right
to a seat in the estates, the most valued is that of Ebenburtigkeit
(equality of birth), which, for purposes of matrimonial alliance,
ranks the mediatized princes with the royal houses of Europe.
See August Wilhelm Heffter, Die Sonderrechte der Souveranen und
der Mediatisirten; vormals reichsstandischen Hduser Deutschlands
(Berlin, 1871). The mediatized families are included in the Almanack
deGotha.
MEDICAL EDUCATION. Up to 1858 each University,
Royal College of Physicians or of Surgeons, and Apothecaries'
areat Hall in Great Britain and Ireland laid down its
Britain and own regulations for study and examination, and
' granted its degree or licence without any State
supervision. In that year, pursuant to the Medical Act,
21 & 22 Vict. c. 90, the General Medical Council of Medical
Education and Registration was established, consisting of
twenty-three members, of whom seventeen were appointed
by the various licensing bodies and six by the Crown. This
number -was increased by the amended act of 1886 to twenty-
nine, three of the six additional members being elected by the
profession as " direct " representatives. The object of the
act was " to enable persons requiring medical aid to distinguish
qualified from unqualified practitioners." To this end the
" Medical Register " was established, on which no person's
name could be inscribed who did not hold a diploma or licence
from one or more of the licensing bodies after examination.
By the 1886 act a qualifying examination was defined as "an
examination in medicine, surgery, and midwifery," conducted
by universities or by medical corporations, of which one .must
be capable of granting a diploma in medicine, and one in surgery.
The Council is authorized to require from the licensing bodies
information as to courses of study and examinations, and
generally as to the requisites for obtaining qualifications; and
to visit and inspect examinations either personally or by
deputy. If the visitors think the course of study and exami-
nation of any licensing body is not sufficient to ensure that
candidates obtaining its qualification possess the requisite
knowledge and skill for the efficient practice of their profession
the Council, on a report being made, may represent the same
to the Privy Council. The Privy Council may, if it sees
fit, deprive the accused body of its power to grant registrable
qualifications. From this statement it will be seen that the
powers of the Council are limited; nevertheless, by their cautious
application, and by the loyal manner in which the licensing
bodies have acted on the recommendations and suggestions
which have from time to time been made, the condition of
medical education has been improved; and although there is
not a uniform standard of examination throughout the United
Kingdom, the Council has ensured that the minimum require-
ments of any licensing body shall be sufficient for the production
of trustworthy practitioners.
One of the first subjects to which the Council applied itself
was the establishment of a system of examinations in general"
knowledge. Such examinations have to be passed before
beginning medical study. On presentation of a certificate to
the registrars of the Council, and on evidence being produced
that the candidate is sixteen years of age, his name is inscribed
on the " Students' Register." The subjects of examinations
are: (a) English language, including grammar and composition
(marks not exceeding 5% of the total obtainable in this section
may be assigned to candidates who show a competent knowledge
of shorthand); (b) Latin, including grammar, translation from
specified authors, and translation of easy passages not taken
from such authors; (e) mathematics, comprising arithmetic;
algebra, as far as simple equations inclusive; geometry, the
subject-matter of Euclid, Books I., II. and III., with easy
deductions; (d) one of the following optional subjects — Greek,
French, German, Italian or any other modern language.
Certificates are accepted from all the universities of Great
Britain and Ireland, from the leading Indian and colonial
universities, from government examination boards, and from
certain chartered bodies. The German Abiturienten Examen
of the gymnasia and reoZ-gymnasia, the French diplomas of
Bachelier es Lettres and Bachelier es Sciences, and corresponding
entrance examinations to other continental universities are
also accepted.
As regards professional education, the Council divided its resolu-
tions into "requirements" and "recommendations"; the former
consisting of demands on the licensing bodies, non-compliance with
which renders them liable to be reported to the Privy Council; the
latter are regarded merely as suggestions for the general conduct
of education and examination. The requirements may be sum-
marized as follows: (a) Registration as a medical student, (b)
Five years of bona-fide study between the date of registration and
the date of the final examination for any diploma entitling the
holder to be registered under the Medical Acts, (c) In every course
of professional study and examination the following subjects must
be contained, the Council offering no opinion as to the manner in
which they should be distributed or combined for the purposes of
teaching or examination, this being left to the discretion of the bodies
or of the student — (i.) physics, including the elementary mechanics
of solids and fluids, and the rudiments of heat, light and electricity ;
(ii.) chemistry, including the principles of the science, and the details
which bear on the study of medicine; (iii.) elementary biology; (iv.)
anatomy; (v.) physiology; (vi.) materia medica and pharmacy;
(vii.) pathology; (viii.) therapeutics; (ix.) medicine, including medical
anatomy and clinical medicine; (x.) surgery, including surgical
anatomy and clinical surgery; (xi.) midwifery, including diseases
peculiar to women and to new-born children; (xii.) theory and
practice of vaccination; (xiii.) forensic medicine; (xiv.) hygiene;
(xv.) mental disease, (d) The first of the four years must be passed
at a school or schools of medicine recognized by any of the licensing
bodies; provided that the first year may be passed at a university
or teaching institution where the subjects of physics, chemistry and
biology are taught; and that graduates in arts or science of any
university recognized by the Council, who shall have spent a year
in the study of these subjects, and have passed in them, shall be held
to have completed the first of the five years of medical study, (e)
The study of midwifery practice must consist of three months'
attendance on the indoor practice of a lying-in hospital, or the
student must have been present at not less than twenty labours,
five of which shall have been conducted throughout under the direct
supervision of a registered practitioner.
The fifth year of study is intended to be devoted to clinical work
and may be passed at any one or more public hospitals or dispen-
saries, British or foreign, recognized by the licensing authorities;
six months of this year may be passed as a pupil to a practitioner
possessing such opportunities of imparting practical knowledge as
shall be satisfactory to the medical authorities. This latter method
is rarely employed.
The " recommendations " of the Council contain suggestions
which may or may not be acted on by the bodies. For the most
part they are complied with in connexion with the system of practical
and clinical teaching.
The Council satisfies itself that its requirements are acted on, and
that the examinations are " sufficient," by cycles of inspection about
every five years. The examination of each licensing body is visited
by an inspector, who forwards his report to the Council, which sends
each report to the body for its information and remarks. As yet
it has never been the duty of the Council to report to the Privy
Council that any examination has not been found sufficient.-,.^
Most universities exact attendance at more classes than the colleges
and halls; for instance, botany and natural history are taught to
their students, who are also examined in them. But with these
exceptions the system of professional education is fairly uniform.
Since 1875 attendance on " practical " classes has been called for in
all subjects. Under this system the larger classes in which the
subjects are taught systematically are broken up, and the students
are taught the use of apparatus and the employment of methods
of investigation and observation. Tutorial instruction is super-
imposed on teaching by lecture. Much the same plan is adopted
in respect of clinical instruction : not only is the student taught at
the bedside by the lecturer, but he receives, either from the house-
' surgeon or house-physician or from a specially appointed clinical
24
MEDICAL EDUCATION
Germany.
tutor, an insight into methods of examination of diseases, and learns
practically the use of the stethoscope and other aids to diagnosis,
and of surgical and obstetrical instruments. In fact, it may be sa|d
that each subject of instruction is duplicated. If this is taken into
account, it must be evident that the time of the student is fully
occupied, and the belief is rapidly growing that five years is too
short a period of study. As a matter of fact, the average time taken
to obtain a British licence to practise is upwards of six years. The
probability is that the solution of the difficulty will be found in the
inclusion of such subjects as physics, biology and chemistry in a
" preliminary scientific " examination, which may have to be under-
taken before registration as a medical student, thus leaving the
whole five years to be devoted to purely professional study.
The German regulations in regard to professional study are
few. They are those for the Staats Examen, for which the
university degree is no longer necessary. The regu-
lations for the admission of candidates to the Staats
Examen are contained in the royal proclamations of the 22nd of
June 1883. They comprise: (a) Certificate of a course of study
at a classical gymnasium of the German Empire. In exceptional
cases, the same from a classical gymnasium outside the German
empire may be considered sufficient. (For details of the course
of study and examinations, see Minutes of the General Medical
Council, vol. xxvii. appendix 3.) (b) Certificate from a univer-
sity, certifying a course of medical study of at least nine half-
years at a university of the German empire, (c) Certificate that
the candidate has passed, entirely at a German university, the
medical Vorprufung, and thereafter has attended for at least
four half-years the medical studies of a university, (d) The
special testimony of the clinical directors bearing witness that
the candidate has taken part as Praktikant (clerk or dresser)
during two half-years at the medical, surgical, and gynaeco-
logical clinics; has himself delivered two cases of labour in the
presence of his teachers or assistant physicians ; and has attended
for a half-year as Praktikant the clinic for diseases of the eye.
The medical Vorprufung referred to is necessary alike for the
Staats Examen and the degree of Doctor of Medicine. It takes place
at the end of the second year (fourth semestre), and includes the
subjects of experimental physics, chemistry, botany, zoology,
anatomy and physiology. It is conducted by a board appointed
yearly by the Minister of Education.
No one can practise medicine in France who does not possess
the diploma of Doctor of Medicine of a French university. The
qualification of Officier de sante is no longer granted.
Before he can inscribe as a student of medicine the
applicant must have obtained the diplomas of Bachelier es lettres
and Bachelier es sciences. Although the course of professional
study may be completed in four years, a longer time is generally
taken before the student proceeds to the final examination for
the doctor's degree. Each year is divided into four trimestres;
at each trimeslre the student must make a new inscription. The
trimestres are (1) November and December, 56 days; (2) January,
February, March, 86 days; (3) April, May, June, 86 days; (4)
July, August, 56 days. Practically there are no regulations
determining the division of the various subjects, or the number
of lectures in each. course, or requiring the student to attend the
courses. The medical faculty of each university puts, before
the student a scheme recommending a certain order of studies
(Division des etudes) for each of the four years of the medical
course, and, as a matter of fact, this order of study is enforced
by the system of intermediate examinations (Examens du fin
d'annie). All the lecture courses are free, as also are the clinics
and the hospital service, and there is no system of ascertaining
the regularity of attendance at lectures, or of certificate of attend-
ance. If, however, the student fails to pass the Examen du fin
d'annie he is debarred from making the next trimestral inscrip-
tion, and thus loses three months. The lectures are, however,
closely attended. In contrast to the freedom in regard to atten-
dance on systematic lectures, there are strict direction and control
in regard to hospital attendance and practical courses. The
student is required to sign a register ad hoc each time he goes
in and out. From the beginning of the third year, e.g. from the
ninth quarterly inscription, hospital attendance is enforced till
the end of the fourth year. No one can renew his trimestral
inscription without producing a schedule of his last trimestral
Prance.
stage, showing that during it he had not absented himself more
than five times without explanation. Practical work is obliga-
tory during each of the four years.
Besides systematic courses of lectures, Conferences are held by the
assistant-professors (agreges) in natural history, physiology, general
pathology, internal pathology, external pathology. At the end of
the first year the student is examined in osteology, myology and the
elements of physiology ; at the end of the second year, in anatomy
and physiology in all their branches; at the end of the third year,
in medicine and surgery ; at the end of the fourth year, an examina-
tion is held over the whole field of study.
No one is allowed to enter on the study of medicine without
passing the Artium examen of a secondary school. This is the
equivalent of the German Abiturienten Examen of enm „^
a classical gymnasium. After study for two semestres
an examination must be passed in psychology, logic and history.
The special professional examinations consist of (1) preliminary
scientific, in botany, zoology, physics, chemistry; (2) first special
or professional, anatomy (orally and by dissections), physiology,
and pharmacology; (3) second special or professional, written
examinations in medicine, surgery, medical jurisprudence;
practical and oral in operative surgery, in clinical medicine, and
clinical surgery; and oral in pathological anatomy, medicine,
surgery; and midwifery. The completion of the full medical
course takes six years, of which the first two are devoted to the
study of the natural sciences.
Authorities. — The history of the development of medical educa-
tion from the earliest times down to 1894 will be found treated of
generally in Puschmann's Geschichte des medicinischen Unterrichts
(Leipzig, 1889-1905) translated by E. H. Hare (London, 1891).
Those desiring more special information on the subject in regard to
the details of British institutions should consult the annals of
the various universities and colleges of Great Britain and Ireland.
The following works supply much interesting information regarding
the gradual rise and development of teaching and examination:
Annals of the Barber Surgeons, by Sydney Young (1890); History
of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, by Cameron (1886);
Early Days of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, by Peel
Ritchie (1899); Historical Sketch of the Royal College of Surgeons of
Edinburgh, by Gairdner (i860) ; Memorials of the Faculty of Physicians
and Surgeons of Glasgow, by Duncan (1896); The Story of the Univer-
sity of Edinburgh, by Sir A. Grant (1884); University of Glasgow, by
Stewart (1891). (J. B. T.)
As late as 1880 medical education in the United States was
in a deplorable condition. In the early history of the country,
before and shortly after the beginning of the 19th
century, the few medical colleges had shown a dis- states.
position to require a liberal education on the part of
those who entered upon their courses, and some effort was made,
through the agency of state boards, to control the licence to
practise. But as the country increased in population and wealth
preliminary requirements were practically abolished, the length of
the courses given each year was shortened to four or five months
or less, and in the second and final year there was simply a repe-r
tition of the courses given during the first year. This is to be
attributed mainly to the fact that there was no general national
or state supervision of medical training. Medical colleges could
obtain incorporation under state laws without difficulty, and
brought considerable advantages in the way of prestige and
increased practice to those concerned. That the existence of a
college depended solely upon the fees of the students encouraged
the tendency to make both entrance and graduation requirements
as easy as possible, especially as there was no state supervision,
and the mere possession of a diploma entitled the holder to
practise. Fortunately, during this period the practical character
of the clinical instruction given in the better colleges fitted tn"»-
graduates in some measure for the actual necessities of practice,
while the good traditions of medicine as a learned profession
stimulated those who adopted it as a career, so that in the main
"the body of practitioners deserved and held the confidence and
respect of the community. From the middle of the 15th century
there has been constant agitation on the part of the physicians
themselves for an improvement in medical education. The first
notable result was an increase in the time of instruction from
two to three years (Chicago Medical College, 1859; Harvard
Medical School, 187 1), the lengthening of each session to six
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE
months or more, and the introduction of graded courses instead
of a repetition of the same lectures every year. The improve-
ment thus begun became marked during the decade 1 890-1 900,
amounting almost to a revolution in the rapidity with which
the course of instruction was amplified. Many factors co-oper-
ated to produce this result: the general development of scientific
instruction in the colleges and secondary schools, the influence
of the large number of medical graduates who completed their
training by study in European schools, the adoption by many
states of stringent regulations regarding the licence to practise
within their borders, the good examples set by many leading
schools in voluntarily raising their requirements for entrance and
graduation, and, perhaps above all in its general effect, the
agitation continually maintained by several national or state
associations which in a measure have exerted the general
regulating control that in other countries has been enforced by
national legislation. Among the most influential of these
associations are the American Medical Association, the American
Academy of Medicine, the Association of American Medical
Colleges, the Illinois State Board of Health, and the University
of the State of New York.
The different states make their own general regulations as to
the practice of medicine within their borders. Certain states
recognize the medical diplomas granted by other states having
equivalent standards of examination. Such certificates are
generally required to be (a) of graduation from a " reputable
medical school," (b) certificates of moral character, (c) the
applicant must be at least twenty-one years of age. These
enable the candidate to present himself before the state board
for the state examination. In many states the applicant must
satisfy the board not only as to his professional, but as to his
general education. The standing of the various medical schools
is usually left to the state boards, each one determining the
matter for its own state, consequently a school may confer a
degree recognized as reputable in several states but not in
others. Only three or four states regulate the chartering of
institutions. In other states any body of men may secure
articles of incorporation of a college or school by paying the
necessary state fee, without question as to the ability of the
incorporator to furnish an education. So strong, however, has
been the growth of American public opinion that a four^years'
course of medical training has become the standard in medical
schools, and in the majority this is in addition to one or two
years' training in the natural sciences. There are some sixty-
five state boards, and many have adopted strong medical
practice acts.
The standard of preliminary requirements for entrance to the
medical schools is being gradually raised, and a large number of
the states demand a certificate of a high school education, while the
colleges comprising the Association of Medical Colleges, which
numbers more than half the American medical schools, accept as an
entrance standard a certificate of at least one year's study at a high
school. In the report for 1908 of the United States bureau of
education of 71 schools, which report the number of theif students
having an arts degree, it is stated that a degree was held by only
15% of the candidates in medicine. These students were mostly
distributed between the Johns Hopkins Medical School (which from
the date of its foundation in 1893 has only admitted college gradu-
ates, and has in addition stipulated that candidates shall have a
knowledge of French and German and have already completed a
year's training in the natural sciences), Harvard Medical School
and Columbia University, and the medical departments of the
universities of California, Michigan and Chicago (Rush Medical
College) require on entrance the equivalent of a two-years' college
course, which must include French and German, together with
physics, chemistry and biology. This tendency is in accordance
with the recommended standard of medical education suggested by
the Council of Medical Education and adopted by the House of
Delegates of the American Medical Association, of which the following
is a summary : —
1. (a) The preliminary of a four-years' high school education
or an examination such as would admit to a recognized university.
(4) In addition a year of not less than nine months devoted
to chemistry, physics and biology and one language (preferably
French or German) to be taken at a college of the liberal arts.
2. Previous to entering a medical college every student should re-
ceive from the state board a " medical student's entrance certificate "
to be given on the production of credentials of training as above.
25
3. Four years of study in a medical college having a minimum
of a 30-weeks' course each year, with not less than 30 hours' work
per week.
4. Graduation from college to entitle a candidate to present
himself for examination before a state board.
5. A satisfactory examination to be passed before the state
board.
Practically all medical schools admit women, but there are three
separate schools of medicine for women: The Women's Medical
College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Women's Medical College,
Baltimore, Maryland; New York Medical College and Hospital for
Women — the last being one of the eighteen homoeopathic colleges
of the United States.
Authorities. — J. M. Tower, Contributions to the Annals of Medical
Progress and Medical Education in the United States, before and during
the War of Independence (Washington Government Printing Office,
1874) ; N. S. Davis, History of Medical Education and Institutions in
the United States (Chicago, 1851); Contributions to the History of
Medical Education and Medical Institutions in the United States
(Washington, Government Printing Office, 1877); J. B. Beck, An
Historical Sketch of the State of Medicine in the American Colonies
(Albany, 1850); Bulletins of the American Academy of Medicine
(The Chemical Publishing Company, Easton, Pa.); H. L. Taylor,
" Professional Education in the United States," College Department,
University of the State of New York, Bulletin 5, i8qq, and Bulletin 8,
iqoo; " Courses of Study in Medical Schools," Report of the Com-
missioners of Education (Washington, 1908) ; F. R. Packard, M.D.,
The History of Medicine in the United States (1901); Journal of
American Medical Association (Aug. 14, 1909) ; A. Flexner, Medical
Education in the U.S. and Canada (19 10). (W. H. H. ; H. L. H.)
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE, or Forensic Medicine, that
branch of state medicine which treats of the application of
medical knowledge to certain questions of civil and criminal law.
The term " medical jurisprudence," though sanctioned by long
usage, is not really appropriate, since the subject is strictly a
branch of medicine rather than of jurisprudence; it does not
properly include sanitation or hygiene, both this and medical
jurisprudence proper being distinct branches of state medicine.
The connexion between medicine and the law was perceived long
before medical jurisprudence was recognized, or had obtained a
distinct appellation. It first took its rise in Germany, and more
tardily received recognition in Great Britain. Forensic medicine,
or medical jurisprudence proper as distinguished from hygiene,
embraces all questions which bring the medical man into contact
with the law, and embraces (1) questions affecting the civil rights
<j2 individuals, and (2) injuries to the person.
I. — Questions affecting the Civil or Social Rights of
Individuals
1. Development of the Human Frame.— The development of
the physical and mental powers of the human being is a factor
of great consequence in determining criminal responsibility,
civil responsibility, or the power of giving validity to civil
contracts, and in determining the personal identity of a living
person or of a corpse. Human life is usually divided into the
five periods of infancy, childhood, youth, manhood and old age.
Some writers increase the number of these unnecessarily to seven
periods.
Infancy is the period from birth till the first or milk set of teeth
begin to be shed — usually about the seventh year. During this
period the body increases in size and stature more, relatively, than
at any other period of existence; and the mental faculties undergo
great development. The milk teeth, twenty in number, are evolved
in a definite order, beginning with the central incisors at about six
months, and ending with the second molars about the termination
of the second year. From the size and stature of the body, the
development of the teeth, and the more or less advanced^ state of
ossification or solidification of the bony skeleton, conclusions may
be drawn as to the probable age of the infant. v *<
Childhood extends from the commencement of the shedding of
the milk teeth to the age of puberty — usually from the seventh to
the fourteenth or fifteenth year. During this period the body
expands, as well as the bony structures, without any clearly marked
difference in structure being observable between the sexes except
as regards the genitals, so that it is impossible to distinguish abso-
lutely between the male and the female skeleton during this period.
The milk teeth are shed, and are replaced by the second or per-
manent set, thirty-two in number, though these do not usually
all make their appearance during childhood. Marked differences
between the proclivities of the sexes are noticeable even at an early
period of childhood, arid long before the characteristic functions
begin to be developed.
26
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE
Youth is marked at its commencement by the changes which occur
at puberty — the development of the genitals in both sexes, the
appearance of hair on the genitals, the appearance of a beard in
the male, the development of the. breasts in the female, the
appearance of the monthly flow in the female, and the ability
to secrete semen in the male. Marked mental changes now occur,
and the generative functions are perfected. Youth terminates at
the age of legal majority, twenty-one years, or perhaps the period
ought to be extended to twenty-five years of age, as it is with some
nations. .
Manhood (or Womanhood) is the period of perfection of all the
bodily and mental powers. It ceases in woman with the cessation
of the monthly flow at about forty-five years of age ; but in man it
often extends to a much later period of life.
Old Age begins with the decay of the bodily and mental faculties,
and is characterized by wrinkling of the skin, loss of the teeth,
whitening of the hair, and feebleness of the limbs. In its later stages
decay of the mental faculties, deafness, obscurity or loss of vision,
and bowing of the spine are added.
2. Duration of Human Life. — The chances of human life form
an important subject of inquiry, and on deductions from com-
parisons of birth and death rates is founded the system of annui-
ties, insurance against loss in sickness, and the insurance of
lives. Since the establishment of compulsory registration of
deaths, our knowledge of the ordinary and extraordinary chances
of human life has been extended, and surer data are available
for calculations of probabilities of life, of survivorships, and of
the payments which ought to be made in benefit clubs (see
Insurance).
3. Personal Identity. — Where the identity has to be established
or disproved after long absence, exposure to foreign climates and
hardships, wounds, &c, the problem has often been extremely
difficult. The data for identifying a person are individual
and family likeness, stature, the colour of the eyes, peculiarities
of garb and manner, recollection of antecedent events, but more
especially marks on the persons either congenital or acquired.
Such are naevi or mother's marks, scars, and disunited or badly
united fractures, known to have existed upon the missing person
(see Identification). In the case of the living, identification is
more often a matter for the police officer than for the medical
man. Bertillon and Galton have each devised methods for the
identification of criminals (see Anthropometry, and Finger-
prints).
4. Marriage. — Under this head the medical jurist has to deal
principally with the nubile age, viewed in the light of nature and
according to legislative enactments, and with such physical cir-
cumstances as affect the legality of marriages, or justify divorce.
In Great Britain the age at which the sexes are first capable of
propagating the species is later than in more southern climes.
Ordinarily it does not occur before fifteen years of age for the male
and fourteen for the female; exceptionally it occurs at the ages of
thirteen and of twelve (or even less) respectively in the male and
female. By law, nevertheless, parents and guardians may, in England
at all events, forbid the marriage of young people till the age of legal
majority. The only physical circumstances which in Great Britain
form a bar to marriage are physical inability to consummate, and
the insanity of one of the parties at the time of marriage. Both
those circumstances have been pleaded and sustained in the law
courts. In other countries minor physical circumstances, as disease,
are held to invalidate marriage.
5. Impotence and Sterility. — These are of importance in con-
nexion with legitimacy, divorce and criminal assaults. Impo-
tence and sterility may arise from organic or from functional
causes, and may be curable or incurable. Impotence (q.v.) is
taken cognisance of by the law courts as a ground of divorce, and
might, of course, be urged as a defence in a case of rape. Sterility
is not a ground of divorce, but might be a question of importance
in cases of legitimacy.
6. Pregnancy. — This subject presents one of the widest fields
for medico-legal evidence. The limits of age between which it is
possible, the limits of utero-gestation, and the signs of pregnancy
may all in turn be the subjects of investigation.
The limits of age between which pregnancy is possible are usually
fixed by the appearance and cessation of the monthly flow; and these
ordinarily begin about fourteen and cease at forty-five years of age.
Exceptionally they appear as early as the tenth year, and may not
cease till the end of the fifth decade of life. Cases, however, have
occurred where a woman has conceived before menstruating; and
a few doubtful cases of conception are recorded in women upwards
of fifty or even sixty years of age. The general fact of pregnancy
being limited by the age of puberty on the one hand and the cessation
of the monthly flow — or fifty-three or fifty-four years as the extreme
limit of age — must be accepted as the safest guide in practice. _
The limits of utero-gestation are not in England fixed by legisla-
tion. The French code fixes the extreme limit of three hundred
days. The ordinary period is forty weeks and a half, or two hundred
and eighty-three days from the cessation of the last monthly flux.
The limit of three hundred days, as fixed by the French code, is
perhaps never exceeded, if ever reached. The uncertainty of
females in fixing the exact date of conception has given rise to the
discrepant opinions of physiologists on the subject. It is well
known, however, that among the higher animals the period is not
precise; and impregnation and conception need not necessarily be
coincident.
The signs of pregnancy are of the utmost importance to the
medical jurist. He may be called upon to pronounce upon the virtue
of a female, to sustain or rebut a plea for divorce, to determine
whether a capital sentence shall be carried out, or to determine
whether it is probable that an heir will be born to an estate. Medical
jurists classify the signs of pregnancy as uncertain or certain; it is
the former which are most regarded by the public, but the latter
are alone of probative value to the jurist. The usual and uncertain
signs are the cessation of the monthly flow, nausea, sickness, a
darkening of the areola and the formation of a secondary areola
around the nipple, enlargement of the breasts, increased size of the
abdomen, the formation of a tumour in the womb, quickening, and
the motions of the foetus. Also uncertain are the uterine souffle,
which is a peculiar soft sound heard over the abdomen and syn-
chronous with the maternal pulse and ballottement or the examination
for a floating tumour in the abdomen between the fifth and eighth
months of pregnancy. The certain signs of pregnancy are the
foetal limbs palpated through the abdomen by the physician, the
pulsations of the foetal heart heard by means of the stethoscope,
the pulsations being much quicker and not synchronous with
the maternal pulse. This latter is inapplicable before the fourth
month of gestation.
7. Parturition. — The imminence of the process of parturition
is of comparatively little interest to the medical jurist; but the
signs of recent delivery are all-important. These signs are the
bruised, swollen, and lacerated state of the external genitals,
relaxation and dilatation of the vagina and womb, the existence
of a peculiar vaginal discharge known as the lochia, a relaxed and
fissured condition of the abdominal walls, a peculiar aspect of
the countenance, and the distended state of the breasts due to the
secretion of milk. The lochial discharge is the most character-
istic sign. All the signs may disappear within ten days of
delivery, though this is not usual.
Connected with parturition, the question of viability (potentiality
for life) of the child is not unimportant. _ After the intra-uterine
age of seven months is reached a child is certainly viable. The
period at which the foetus becomes viable cannot be stated with
certainty ; but five calendar months, or one hundred and fifty days,
is perhaps the nearest approximation. The viability of a child is
judged by its size and weight, its general state of development^ the
state of the skin, hair, and nails; its strength or feebleness,the ability
to cry, and its power of taking maternal nourishment. The question
of viability has important bearings upon the crime of infanticide.
In the case of succession to property the meaning of " born alive "
is different from the meaning of the same expression as used respect-
ing infanticide. In questions of tenancy by the curtesy (q.v.) it has
been decided that any kind of motion of the child, as a twitching
and tremulous motion of the lips, is sufficient evidence of live-birth.
By the French code, however, no child that is born alive can inherit,
unless it is born viable. As regards infanticide, proof of a conclu-
sive separate existence of the child is demanded before live-birth is
admitted. ' _ ...
The subject of superfoetation and superfecundation, or the possibility
of two conceptions having occurred resulting in the birth of twins
with a considerable intervening interval, is obscure and has given
rise to much controversy. There is much, however (e.g. the existence
of a double or bifid uterus), to countenance the view that a double
conception is possible.
8. Monsters and Hermaphrodites. — To destroy any living
human birth, however unlike a human creature it may be, is to
commit a crime. Blackstone states that a monster which hath
not the shape of mankind hath no inheritable blood; but the law
has not defined a monster, nor what constitutes a human form.
The same author states that if, in spite of deformity, the product
of birth has human shape, it may be an heir. Hermaphrodites
are beings with malformations of the sexual organs, simulating
a double sex. Physiologists do not admit, however, the existence
of true hermaphrodites with double perfect organs, capable of
performing the functions of both sexes.
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE
27
9. Paternity and Affiliation. — These are often matters of great
doubt. A considerable time may elapse between the absence or
death of a father and the birth of his reputed child. As has
already been said, three hundred days is the utmost limit to
which physiologists would extend the period of utero-gestation.
This subject involves questions respecting children born during
a second marriage of the mother, posthumous children, bastardy,
and alleged cases of posthumous children.
10. Presumption of Survivorship. — When two or more persons
perish by a common accident, when a mother and her new-born
child are found dead, and in a few analogous cases, important
civil rights may depend upon the question which lived the longest;
and great ingenuity has been displayed in elucidating the disputes
which have arisen in the law courts in such cases.
11. Maladies exempting from Discharge of Public Duties
frequently demand the attention of the medical man. He may
be called upon to decide whether a man is able to undertake
military or naval service, to act as a juryman without serious risk
to life or health, or to attend as a witness at a trial.
12. Feigned and Simulated Diseases often require much skill
and caution in order to detect the imposture.
13. The Signs of Death. — The determination of the actual
existence of death assumes a certain importance in tropical
countries, where the necessity for speedy interment may involve
a risk of burial alive. Such an accident cannot well occur where
a medical man confirms the existence of death, and in the United
Kingdom, where burial rarely takes place before the lapse of
forty-eight hours, such changes usually occur in the body as to
render any error practically impossible. Within a varying
period, usually not more than twelve hours, the body becomes
rigid, owing to the development of rigor mortis or post mortem
rigidity. The blood, which during life is equally distributed
throughout the body, gravitates to the most dependent parts
and develops a discoloration of the skin which is known as
post mortem lividity or post mortem staining. At a variable
period of time, dependent on the cause of death, also the tempera-
ture and moisture of the air to which the body is exposed, de-
composition or putrefaction sets in. These changes after death
are of great importance, not only as affording certain proof
of death, but also because they furnish valuable information
as to the probable time at which it occurred, and from the
fact that they may alter or destroy evidence as to the cause of
death.*
14. Insanity or Mental Alienation. — A medical man may be
required to give evidence in any of the law courts, civil, criminal
or ecclesiastical, before commissions de lunatico inquirendo, or
before a magistrate, as to the sanity or insanity of an individual;
and he may have to sign certificates of unsoundness of mind with
the view of providing for the safe custody and proper treatment
of a lunatic. Hence he must be familiar with the chief forms
of insanity (see Insanity), and be able to distinguish and treat
each of these. He will also be required to detect feigned insanity,
and to examine persons charged with crime with the view of
preventing real lunatics from being treated as criminals.
II. — Injuries to the Person
1. Defloration. — The signs of defloration are obscure and
uncertain; and it is rather by the coexistence of several of the
usual marks than the existence of any one sign, that any just
' conclusion can be arrived at. .
2. Rape.- — This crime consists in the carnal knowledge of a
woman forcibly and against her will. The proofs of rape apart
from the consistency of the woman's story, mainly depend on the
presence of marks of violence, stains, &c. In all charges of rape,
the woman and her assailant should be examined as soon as
possible by a medical man, but such examination, it is important
to remember, can only be carried out with the free consent of the
party to be examined. It is to be noted that according to English
law the slightest degree of penetration is sufficient to constitute
the crime of rape.
3. Mutilation. — This may consist in the cutting or maiming of
any member; castration is the most important, and perhaps but
rarely effected as a crime. Self-mutilation, giving rise to false
accusations, is occasionally resorted to.
4. Criminal Abortion. — This crime consists in unlawfully
procuring the expulsion of the contents of the gravid uterus at
any period short of full term. It must be noted that while this
definition may be held to recognize the induction of premature
labour by medical men in certain circumstances, yet, when the
operation is necessary, a medical man should always protect
himself from possible misconstruction of his action {i.e. criminal
intent) by having a consultation with another practitioner. The
means employed in criminal abortion to procure the desired
result may be classed under three heads: (1) general violence to
the body, (2) administration of drugs supposed to have aborti-
facient qualities, (3) instrumental interference with the contents
of the uterus. Among the drugs frequently employed for the
purpose, although by no means always successfully, are ergot,
strong purgatives, iron, rue, pennyroyal, savin.
5. Homicide. — The legal sense of the term homicide excludes
such injuries as are the result of either accident or of suicide. It
embraces murder or wilful homicide, manslaughter or culpable
homicide, casual homicide, and justifiable homicide.
Ordinary homicide may be accomplished by several modes
that may sometimes be ascertained by examination of the body,
e.g. poison.
As a preliminary in all cases of homicide, it is the duty of the
medical jurist in the first place to ascertain the fact of death, and
to distinguish between real and apparent death; and then to
determine, if possible, the period at which death took place.
Infanticide, or child murder, is by the British law treated with
the same severity as the murder of an adult. Indeed infanticide
as a crime distinct from murder has no legal recognition. Practi*
cally this severity defeats itself, and hence an alternative charge
of concealment of birth in England, or concealment of pregnancy
in Scotland, is usually preferred in such cases.
The iniquity of the old law which threw the onus of proof of still-
birth on the mother now no longer exists, and the law demandi
strict proof of live-birth at the hands of the prosecution. Hence
the subject involves nice points of forensic medicine. The child
must be proved to have arrived at the period when there was a
probability of its living (proof of viability) ; and as the establishment
of respiration is necessary to prove live-birth the evidences of this
act must be carefully investigated. The size and position of the
lungs, and the state of the vessels concerned in foetal circulation,
must be carefully noted. The foetal lungs are dark, dense and liver-
like in appearance and consistence, and sink when immersed in
water; whilst the fully respired lungs are rosy, marbled, and soft
and crepitant when handled. Minor degrees of respiration are
recognized by the appearance of little groups of dilated air-vesicles,
and by the fact that, although the lungs as a whole may sink in water,
certain portions of them, into which respired air has penetrated,
float in water even after subjection to firm pressure in the hand.
Care must be taken, nevertheless, to exclude buoyancy of the lung
due to putrefaction; in this case the air may be expelled by gentle
pressure, and the previously buoyant portion of lung now sinks in
water. It is impossible, however, to distinguish certainly between
a lung naturally inflated and one artificially insufflated.
It must be borne in mind that, although live-birth cannot be
affirmed in the absence of signs of respiration, the presence of these
signs is not proof of live-birth in the legal sense of the term. The
law demands for live-birth a separate existence of the child after
delivery ; and breathing may take place whilst the child is still .either
wholly or partially within the maternal passages, and in some special
cases whilst still within the uterus itself.
When proofs of respiration — it may be to such an extent as to
leave no doubt as to live-birth — have been found, the cause of death
is then to be investigated. Wounds, and other forms of injury^
must be sought for. There may be signs of strangulation, suffoca- ""
tion, puncture of the fontanelles and consequent injury to the brain,
the administration of a poison, or other means of procuring death.
It must be borne in mind that some of these causes may be brought
about by omission, or even by accident. Thus strangulation may
arise from natural and unrelieved pressure of the navel-string on
the neck of the child ; suffocation from immersion of the face of the
child in the maternal discharges, or by pressure of clothes on the
mouth. Death may result from haemorrhage through neglect to
tie the navel-string, or the infant may perish from exposure to cold.
In the case of exposed infants it is important to ascertain the real
mother. As such exposure usually takes place soon after birth,
comparison of the age of the infant with the signs of recent
delivery in the suspected mother is the best method of proving the
relation.
28
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE
Death from Asphyxia. — Among the forms of violent death due
to this cause are drowning, hanging, strangulation, garotting,
smothering, suffocation from choking, mechanical interference
with the expansion of the chest walls, as when persons are crushed
together during a panic in a fire, breathing poisonous gases, such
as carbonic acid or carbonic oxide. Suicide and accidental
death from these causes are still more common.
Drowning is thought to produce death occasionally by the sudden-
ness of the shock causing suspension of the functions of circulation
and respiration — by shock without a struggle. The usual mode of
death appears, however, to be by the circulation of unoxygenated
blood through the brain acting as a poison upon that organ ; and
this is attended with all the phenomena of asphyxia, as in suffocation.
The phenomena attending asphyxia are as follows. As soon as the
oxygen in the arterial blood, through exclusion of air, sinks below
the normal, the respiratory movements grow deeper and at the
same time more frequent; both the inspiratory and expiratory
phases are exaggerated, the supplementary respiratory muscles are
Drought into play, and the breathing becomes hurried. As the
blood becomes more and more venous, the respiratory movements
continue to increase both in force and frequency. Very soon the
expiratory movements become more marked than the inspiratory,
and every muscle which can in any way assist in expiration is brought
into play. The orderly expiratory movements culminate in ex-
piratory convulsions; these violent efforts speedily exhaust the
nervous system, and the convulsions suddenly cease and are followed
by a period of calm. The calm is one of exhaustion ; all expiratory
active movements have ceased, and all the muscles of the body are
flaccid and quiet. But at long intervals lengthened deep inspiratory
movements take place ; then these movements become less frequent ;
the rhythm becomes irregular, so that each breath becomes a more
and more prolonged gasp, which becomes at last a convulsive stretch-
ing of the whole body ; and with extended limbs and a straightened
trunk, with the head thrown back, the mouth widely open, the face
drawn and the nostrils dilated, the last breath is taken. The above
phenomena are not all observed except in cases of sudden and entire
exclusion of air from the lungs. In slow asphyxia, where the supply
of air is gradually diminished (e.g. in drowning), the phenomena
are fundamentally the same, but with minor differences. The
appearances of the body after death from drowning are various.
There may be pallor of the countenance, or this may be livid and
swollen. The air passages are filled with frothy mucus, and there
may be water in the stomach. The ends of the fingers are often
excoriated from grasping at objects; and weeds, &c, are sometimes
found grasped in the hands. The distinction between murder and
suicide by drowning can rarely be made out by examination of the
body alone, and is usually decided from collateral circumstances
or marks of a struggle. Attention must also be paid to the existence
of wounds on the body, marks of strangulation on the neck, and the
like.
Hanging may result in death from asphyxia, or, as is more particu-
larly the case in judicial hanging, some injury is inflicted on the upper
portion of the spinal cord, resulting in instant death. The ordinary
appearances of .death from asphyxia may be found : dark fluid blood,
congestion of the brain, intensely congested lungs, the right cavities
of the heart full, and the left comparatively empty of blood, and
general engorgement of the viscera. Ecchyrnosis may be found
beneath the site of the cord, or a mere parchmenty appearance.
There may even be no mark of the cord visible. The mark, when
present, usually follows an oblique course, and is high up the neck.
The fact that a body may be suspended after death, and that if this
be done speedily whilst the body is still warm there may be a post-
mortem mark undistinguishable from the mark observed in death
from hanging, must not be forgotten.
Suffocation may occur from the impaction of anv substance in the
glottis, or by covering up the mouth and nose, it is frequently of
accidental origin, as when substances become accidentally impacted
in the throat, and when infants are overlaid. The phenomena are
those of pure asphyxia, which have already been detailed. On
post-mortem examination the surface of the lungs is found covered
with minute extravasations of blood, known as punctated ecchyrnosis.
Strangulation may be accomplished by drawing a cord tightly
round the neck, or by forcibly compressing the windpipe (throttling).
Hence there may be either a circular mark round the neck, not so
oblique as after hanging, or the marks of the fingers may be found
about the region of the larynx. The cartilaginous structures of the
larynx and windpipe may be broken. The mark of the ligature is
often low down in the neck. The signs of asphyxia are present in
a marked degree.
Mephitism. — In the United Kingdom this last form of death
usually results accidentally from an escape of lighting gas, the danger
has been much increased in many towns owing to the addition of
carburetted water-gas to the ordinary supply. Carbonic oxide
gas is contained in ordinary lighting gas to the extent of about
6 to 8 %, and is extremely fatal when inhaled. Carburetted water-
gas contains about 28 %, and when mixed with ordinary lighting
gas the percentage of carbonic oxide is thus very much increased.
As a mode of assassination it is seldom employed, but is frequently
resorted to on the continent of Europe by suicides, charcoal fumes
being commonly used for the purpose.
6. Death from Starvation. — Cases occur in which it is important
to distinguish this from other modes of death. In such cases the
skin becomes harsh and dry, and may acquire a peculiar odour;
the subcutaneous fat disappears; the gums shrink away from the
teeth; the tongue and mouth become dark-coloured and dry;
the eyes are bloodshot; the intestines become thin and their
coats translucent; the gall-bladder is distended. The period of
total abstinence from food required to kill an adult is unknown,
and greatly depends upon whether there be access to liquid. In
some cases persons have been able to subsist on little or no
nourishment for long periods, the body being in a state of
quasi-hibernation.
7. Death from Extremes of Temperature. — (1) Death from cold
is not often observed in the British Isles. A portion only of the
body, as the extremity of a limb, may perish from extreme cold.
After the first sensation of tingling experienced on exposure to
severe cold, loss of sensation supervenes, with languor and an
irresistible propensity to sleep. The tendency to this forms an
extreme danger in such cases. (2) Death from extreme heat
usually occurs in the form of burning and scalding, attended with
destruction of a large portion of the cutaneous structures. Here
the cause of death is obvious. The human body is capable of
exposure to very hot air — as is seen in Turkish baths— for a
considerable period with impunity. Sunstroke is a cerebral
affection brought on by too great exposure to a hot atmosphere,
especially whilst undergoing fatigue.
8. Death fry Lightning. — Lightning or an electric current may
cause instant death. No visible marks of the effects of the
electric current may be left, or the body may be singed or
discoloured, or the skin may be perforated at one or two spots.
9. Injuries or Wounds.— These include in a medico-legal sense
not only those characterized as incised, punctured, contused,
lacerated, stab wounds, but also burns, injuries produced by
firearms, fractures, dislocations, &c. One of the chief questions
which have to be decided in all forms of violent death is whether
it was the result of accident, suicide or murder. In cases of
fatal wounding, among the points to be noted, which will help to
decide the question, are the situation, direction and extent of the
wound, the position in which the body and any weapon may be
found, together with the presence and distribution of any blood
marks and the signs of a struggle. In wounds caused by fire-
arms the injury, if suicidal, is usually situated in a vital and acces-
sible part of the body, the temple, mouth, and chest being the
favourite situations; but such an injury also presents, as a rule,
the characteristic appearances resulting from the discharge of
the weapon close to the body, viz. besides the wound of entrance
of the bullet, there are singeing of the cuticle and hair, and
blackening of the area immediately surrounding the wound, from
particles of unconsumed powder being driven into the skin and
from the smoke of the discharge. These effects are naturally
not produced when the weapon is discharged at a distance exceed-
ing 2 or 3 ft., as usually happens in cases of homicidal shooting.
They may also be wanting in undoubted suicidal wounds
produced by revolvers and cartridges filled with amberite or
other smokeless powders. Death from burning is generally
accidental, very rarely suicidal, and when homicidal is usually
employed to conceal traces of other violence inflicted upon the
body. In large conflagrations death is not always due to burning.
Charred bodies may be found presenting various injuries due
to the fall of beams, crushing, the trampling of others tryifigvto
escape, &c, or fractures and lacerations may be due simply to
the action of the heat. Death may result from such injuries, or
from suffocation by the gases of combustion, before the victim
is affected by the actual fire. Spontaneous combustion of the
body has been stated to occur, but the evidence upon which the
cases rest is not well authenticated.
Punctured wounds or stabs require minute attention; for there
have been instances in which death has been produced by an instru-
ment so small as a pin thrust into a vital part. Wounds of the head
are always dangerous, especially if the blow has been severe. The
person so wounded may die without division of the skin, or fracture
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE
of the bones, as happens in what is known as concussion of the brain.
Contusions which do not divide the skin may fracture the skull ;
or the inner table of the skull may be fractured without the outer
being broken or depressed. Even wounds of the scalp may prove
fatal, from inflammation extending towards the brain. Punctured
wounds of the head are more dangerous than cuts, as more likely
to excite fatal inflammation. When the brain and its membranes
are injured, all such wounds are generally fatal. Wounds of the
face or organs of sense are often dangerous, always disfiguring, and
productive of serious inconvenience. Wounds of the neck are always
serious whenever more than the skin is divided. The danger of
opening large blood-vessels, or wounding important nerves, is
imminent ; even the division of a large vein in the neck has proved
immediately fatal, from the entrance of air into the vessel, and its
speedy conveyance to the heart. A blow on the neck has instantly
proved fatal, from injury to an important nerve, generally the
pneumogastric or the sympathetic. Dislocations and fractures of
the bones of the neck prove instantly fatal. Wounds of the chest
are always serious when the cavity is penetrated, though persons
may recover from wounds of the lungs, and have even survived
for some time considerable wounds of the heart. This last is an
important fact ; because we are not always to consider the spot where
the body of a person killed by a wound of the heart, and apparently
remaining where he fell, is found as that in which the fatal wound
was inflicted. Instances have occurred of persons surviving severe
wounds of the heart for several days. Broken ribs are never without
danger; and the same may be said of severe contusions of the chest,
from the chance of inflammation extending inwards. Wounds
penetrating both sides of the chest are generally considered as fatal ;
but possibly there may be recovery from such. Wounds of the
abdomen, when they do not completely penetrate, may be considered
as simple wounds, unless when inflicted with great force, so as to
bruise the contents of the abdominal cavity; in that case they may
produce death without breach of surface, from rupture of some viscus,
as sometimes happens from blows or kicks upon the belly. Wounds
injuring the peritoneum are highly perilous, from the risk of severe
inflammation. Wounds of the stomach or intestines, or of the gall-
bladder, generally prove mortal, from the effusion of their contents
into the peritoneal cavity producing fatal inflammation. Wounds
of the liver, spleen or kidneys are generally soon mortal, from the
great vascularity of those organs. Wounds of the extremities, when
fatal, may generally be considered so from excessive haemorrhage,
from the consequences of inflammation and gangrene, or from the
shock to the system when large portions of the limb are forcibly
removed, as in accidents from machinery, and in wounds from
firearms. • l..
Blood Stains. — The examination of blood stains is a frequent
and important operation in criminal charges. Blood stains when
fresh and abundant can be recognized without difficulty, but
when old, or after being acted upon by certain substances, their
identity is not readily determined.
The tests which may be applied to a suspected stain consist of:
(l) The microscopic test. A portion of the stain is soaked in a drop
of some fluid which will soften and cause separation of the dried
blood corpuscles without altering their characteristic appearance.
Such fluids are solutions of glycerine and water of a specific gravity
of 1028 or 30 % caustic potash. The recognition of blood corpuscles
affords evidence of the nature of the stain. (2) Chemical tests, (a)
Heat applied to a solution obtained by soaking some of the stained
fabric in cold water. A blood solution is red, and loses its red colour
on application of heat, while at the same time a buff-coloured pre-
cipitate is formed. (6) On applying a drop of freshly prepared
tincture of guaiacum and then some ozonic ether or peroxide of
hydrogen to the stain, a blue colour is obtained if blood be present.
Many other substances, however, give the same reaction, (c) If,
even to the smallest particle of dried blood, a fragment of common
salt and some glacial acetic acid be added, and the latter is then
heated to ebullition «and allowed to evaporate away, small brown
rhomboid crystals — haemin crystals — will be found to have formed,
and they can be recognized under the microscope. (3) Spectroscopic
test. A solution of blood obtained from a stain will show a spectrum
having two dark bands between Fraunhofer's lines D and E (oxy-
haemoglobin). On adding ammonium sulphide to the solution
the haemoglobin is reduced and only one broad dark band is seen
(reduced haemoglobin). On adding caustic potash to a solution
of blood, alkaline haematin is formed, and this again is transformed
on the further addition of ammonium sulphide into reduced haematin
or haemochromogen, which gives a very characteristic spectrum
of two dark bands situated in the yellow part of the spectrum.
The production of these three different spectra from a red-coloured
solution is characteristic of blood. Old blood stains are insoluble
in water, whereas recent stains are readily soluble in cold water,
yielding a red solution. The application of hot water or washing
with soap tends to fix or render blood stains insoluble. Vegetable
dyes may likewise give red solutions, but they may be distinguished
from blood by the addition of ammonia, which alters the colour of
the former, but rather intensifies the red colour of a blood solution.
The differentiation between human blood stains and those pro-
29
duced by the blood of other animals, more especially domestic
animals, is a matter of great importance to the medical jurist.
When the blood stain is fresh, measurement of the corpuscles may
decide the question, but in the case of dry and old stains it is im-
possible to make the distinction. A method has been discovered,
however, which enables the distinction to be made not only between
human blood and that of other animals (with the exception of
Simiidae), but also between the bloods of different animals. The
method depends upon the fact that if an animal (A) , such as a dog
or rabbit, is inoculated with the blood or serum of another animal
(B), then the blood or serum of A is found to produce a specific
reaction (namely, the production of a cloudiness or precipitate)
when added to a solution of the blood of a similar animal to B, and
that species of animal only. If, therefore, human blood serum is
injected into an animal, its blood after a time affords an "anti-
serum " which produces the specific reaction only in human blood
solutions and not in those formed from the blood of other animals.
10. Poisoning. — There is no exact definition of a poison (q.v.).
Popularly, substances which destroy or endanger life when
swallowed in small quantity are called poisons, but a scientific
definition would also include many substances which are injurious
to health in large doses or only after repeated administration,
and which act not only when swallowed, but also when taken into
the system through other channels, e.g. the skin or the lungs.
The branch of science which relates to poisons, their nature,
methods of detection, the symptoms produced by them, and
treatment of poisoning, is called Toxicology, and is one of the
most important subjects included under the term Medical
Jurisprudence.
The medical evidence in cases of poisoning rests upon — (1)
the symptoms produced during life; (2) the post mortem appear-
ances; (3) the chemical analysis and detection of the substance
in the body, or in the excretions and vomited matters, or in
articles of food; (4) experiments on animals in the case of certain
poisons where other conclusive evidence is difficult to obtain.
The treatment of cases of poisoning will vary according to the
substance taken, but the general principles which should be
followed are: (a) to get rid of the poison by means of the stomach-
pump, or by washing out the stomach with water through a
soft rubber tube, or by giving an emetic such as mustard, sulphate
of zinc, ipecacuanha; (6) to neutralize the poison by giving a
substance which will fcrm with it an innocuous compound (e.g.
in the case of the strong acids by administering magnesia or
common whiting) , or which has an opposite physiological action
(e.g. atropine in opium poisoning) ; (c) to promote the elimination
from the body of the poison which has been already absorbed;
(d) general treatment of any dangerous symptoms which
appear, as by stimulation in collapse or artificial respiration in
asphyxia.
Food Poisoning (see also Adulteration). — Foods may prove
noxious from a variety of causes: (1) The presence of metallic
poisons, as in peas artificially coloured with copper salts, in
tinned foods from dissolved tin salts, &c. (2) The contami-
nation of any food with the specific germs of disease, as for
example, milk infected with the germ of enteric fever. (3) The
presence in meat of parasites, such as the Trichina spiralis, or
of disease in animals, capable of transmission to man, such as
tuberculosis, or the presence of poison in the flesh of animals
which have fed on substances harmless to them but poisonous to
human beings. Grain may be infected with parasitic fungi of a
poisonous character, as for example Claviceps purpurea, causing
epidemics of ergotism. (4) Foods of various kinds may contain
saprophytic bacteria which elaborate certain poisons, either
before or after the food is taken. It is chiefly in relation to food-
poisoning from the last-mentioned cause that our knowledge has
been increased in recent years.
Many cases of food-poisoning, previously of mysterious origin,
can now be explained by the action of bacteria and the products
which they give rise to — tox-albumoses, ptomaines, 'toxins — by
splitting up proteid substances. It is not necessary that the food
should show evident signs of putrefaction. It may not do so, and
yet on' being eaten produce violent symptoms of gastro-intestinal
irritation almost immediately, followed by various nervous symp-
toms. In such cases a chemical poison, developed by putrefactive
bacteria before the food was eaten, quickly acts upon the system.
On the other hand, symptoms may not appear for many hours after
ingestion of the food, and then come on suddenly and with great
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE
30
severity — there has been a period of incubation. In such cases the
food when swallowed has contained the bacteria, but the poisonous
toxin has been elaborated by them afterwards in the system during
the period preceding the onset of symptoms. In both varieties
of poisoning the symptoms are similar, consisting of gastro-intestinal
irritation — vomiting, purging and pain in the abdomen — together
with great prostration, fever, muscular twitchings, disturbances
of vision, delirium and coma. The varieties of meat which have
most frequently given rise to poisoning (Botulismus) are pork, ham,
veal, sausages, brawn, various kinds of meat pies and potted meats.
Pig flesh appears to be specially liable to become infected. A point
of considerable interest, which has sometimes given rise to doubt
as to the poisonous character of meat in certain instances, is, that
the same food may be poisonous at one time and not at another.
Thus it may be harmless when freshly prepared, cause fatal effects
if eaten a day or two afterwards, and shortly after that again prove
perfectly innocuous. This is explained by the fact that the toxic
substances take some time to develop, and after development are still
further split up by the bacteria into other bodies of a harmless nature.
In some fish — e.g. Trachinus draco, or sea weaver — the poison is a
physiological product of certain glands. In others the poison is not
known, as in the family Scombridae, to which the disease Kakke has
been attributed. In the United Kingdom the poisonous effects pro-
duced by fish are due to bacterial agency after death, and instances
have occurred from the eating of herrings, mackerel, dried salt
codfish, caviare, tinned salmon and tinned sardines. Shellfish
may produce poisonous effects from putrefactive changes or from
the development in them (oysters and mussels) of ptomaines.
Brieger discovered a ptomaine in poisonous mussels to which he
gave the name mytilotoxin. It is now fully proved that oysters
and mussels may become contaminated with the organism of typhoid
fever if placed in specifically polluted water, and thus transmit the
disease to human beings. Milk, as already stated, may be contami-
nated and convey the infection of scarlet fever and other diseases.
It may also contain substances of bacterial origin, which are possibly
the cause of infantile diarrhoea, and others, having a fatal effect upon
adults. Cheese has frequently caused poisoning. Vaughan dis-
covered a toxic substance in milk and cheese — tyrotoxicon — but
there are other toxic substances of bacterial origin sometimes present
in cheese to which poisonous effects have probably been due. Mush-
room-poisoning results from the eating of poisonous fungi in mistake
for the edible mushroom. The poisonous element in most cases is
either muscarin contained in the fungus Amanita muscaria, or phallin
in Amanita phalloides.
History of Forensic Medicine
The true origin of medical jurisprudence is of comparatively
recent date, although traces of its principles may be perceived
in remote times. Among the ancient Greeks the principles of
medical science appear only to have been applied to legislation
in certain questions relating to legitimacy. In the writings of
Galen we find, however, remarks on the differences between the
foetal and the adult lungs; he also treats of the legitimacy of
seven months' children, and discusses feigned diseases. Turning
to Rome, we find that the laws of the Twelve Tables fix three
hundred days as the extreme duration of utero-gestation. It
is doubtful whether the Roman law authorized medical inspec-
tions of dead bodies. In the code of Justinian we find De
statu kominutn; De poenis et manumissis; De sicariis; De
inspiciendo ventre custodiendoque partu; De muliere quae
peperit undecimo mense; De impotentia; De hermaphrdditis —
titles which show obvious traces of a recognized connexion
between medicine and law. It was not, however, by the
testimony of living medical witnesses that such questions were
to be settled, but on the authority of Hippocrates.
Medical jurisprudence, as a science, dates only from the 16th
century. In 1507 the bishop of Bamberg introduced a penal
code in which the necessity of medical evidence in certain cases
was recognized; and in 1532 the emperor Charles V. persuaded
the Diet of Ratisbon to adopt a uniform code of German penal
jurisprudence, in which the civil magistrate was enjoined in all
cases of doubt or difficulty to obtain the evidence of medical
witnesses, — as in cases of personal injuries, infanticide, pretended
pregnancy, simulated diseases, and poisoning. The true dawn
of forensic medicine dates, however, from the publication in
1553 of the Constitutio criminalis Carolina in Germany. A few
years later Weiher, a physician, having undertaken to prove
that witches and demoniacs are, in fact, persons subject to
hypochondriasis and hysteria, and should not be punished,
aroused popular indignation, and was with difficulty rescued from
the flames by his patron, William duke of Cleves.
At the close of the 16th century Ambrose Par6 wrote on
monsters, on simulated diseases, and on the art of drawing up
medico-legal reports; Pineau also published his treatise on vir-
ginity and defloration. About the same time as these stimuli to
the study of forensic medicine were being made known in Paris,
the first systematic treatise on the science appeared in Sicily in the
form of a treatise De relationibus medicorum by Fidele. Paulo
Zacchia, the illustrious Roman medical jurist, moreover, published
from 1621 to 1635 a work entitled Quaestianes medico-legales,
which marks a new era in the history of the science — a work
which displays an immense amount of learning and sagacity in
an age when chemistry was in its infancy, and physiology very
imperfectly understood. The discovery of the circulation of
the blood by Harvey soon followed, and gave a new impetus
to the study of those branches of forensic medicine having direct
relations to physiology; and to Harvey we owe the idea how to
apply Galen's observations on the differences between the foetal
and the adult lungs to the elucidation of cases of supposed
infanticide. About this time, too, Sebiz published two treatises,
on the signs of virginity and on the examination of wounds
respectively. In the former he contended that the hymen was
the real mark of virginity; but this was denied by Augenio and
Gassendi. In 1663 Thomas Bartholin investigated the period
of human uterine gestation, a subject which had engaged the
attention of Aristotle. He also proposed the " hydrostatic
test" for the determination of live-birth — a test still in use, and
applied by observing whether the lungs of an infant float or sink
in water. J. Swammerdam explained the rationale of the process
in 1677; but it was not till 1682 that^jt_was first practically
applied by Jan Schreyer.
Germany, ever the leader in questions of forensic medicine,
introduced the first public lectures on medical jurisprudence.
Michaelis gave the first course about the middle of the 17th
century in the university of Leipzig; and these were followed
by the lectures of Bohn, who also published De renunciatione
vulnerum; cui accesserunt dissertationes binae de partu enecato,
et an quis vivus mortuusve aqttis submersm, slrangulatus, aut
vulneralus fuerit, and De officiis medici duplicis, clinici el
forensis. Welsch and Amman wrote on the fatality of wounds,
and Licetus on monsters.
From the time of Ambrose Pare the mode of conducting investi-
gations in forensic medicine had attracted attention in France;
and in 1603 Henry IV. authorized his physician to appoint
persons skilled in medicine and surgery to make medico-legal
inspections and reports in all cities and royal jurisdictions; in
1692, difficulties having arisen, Louis XIV. created hereditary
royal physicians and surgeons for the performance of like duties.
These, having become a corrupt and venal body, were suppressed
in 1790. The only works on forensic medicine which appeared
in France during the 17th century, however, were Gendry's
Sur les moyens de bien rapporter a justice and Blegny's Doctrine
des rapports en chirurgie. At the beginning of the 18th century
the latter was superseded as a text-book by Devaux's L'Art de
faire des rapports en chirurgie. Valentini followed with two
works, which were finally incorporated in his Corpus juris medico-
legale which appeared in 1722. This work is a vast storehouse
of medico-legal information, and a summary of the knowledge of
the time.
Professorships for teaching the subject were founded in the
German universities early in the 18th century, and numerous
treatises on forensic medicine were published. Teichmeyer's
Institutiones medicinae legalis long formed the text-book of tnfe
subject; and Alberti, professor of legal medicine at Halle, in his
Systema gave to the world a most complete and laborious treatise
on the science. His industrious collection of facts renders his
works a precious mine of information. Indeed towards the close
of the 1 8th century the Germans were almost the only cultivators
of legal medicine. But in France the celebrated case of Ville-
blanche attracted attention to the subject, and called forth
Louis, who in a memoir on utero-gestation attacked with power-
ful arguments the pretended instances of protracted pregnancy,
and paved the way for the adoption in the Code NapoUon of
tifHDICI ^AMIEY)
3 1
three hundred days as the limit of utero-gestation, a period in
precise accordance with the ancient Roman law of the Twelve
Tables. Louis also wrote on death from hanging, and pointed
out the mode by which we may distinguish murder from suicide
under such circumstances. It is he who is credited with having
been the first in France to publicly teach the just application
of medical knowledge to jurisprudence. Foder6's celebrated
Traiti de medecine ligale appeared in 1798, and marks a new era
in the annals of legal medicine.
No British author wrote systematically on forensic medicine
till 1 788, when Dr Samuel Farr published a short treatise on the
Elements of Medical Jurisprudence; but this was merely an
abridgment of an earlier work of Fazelius. Previous writers —
as Mead, Munro, Denman, Percival and the two Hunters — had,
however, dealt with fragments of the subject; nevertheless the
science as a whole was little appreciated or recognized in this
country during the 18th century.
In the 19th century France took the lead; and the institution
of three professorships of forensic medicine at the end of the 18th
century produced excellent fruits. In 1814 Orfila, a Spaniard by
birth, but naturalized in France, published his Toxicologic, a work
which revolutionized this branch of medical jurisprudence, and
first placed the knowledge of poisons upon a scientific basis.
Since the time of Orfila, France has never ceased to have one or
more living medical jurists, among the most recent of whom we
must enumerate Tardieu, whose treatises on abortion, on poisons,
on wounds, &c, are justly celebrated. Germany too industri-
ously pursued the subject, and Casper's great work on forensic
medicine will ever remain a classic in the science. In Russia
Dragendorff greatly contributed to our knowledge of poisons.
Though forensic medicine may be said to have been entirely
neglected in England till the beginning of the 19th century, its
progress has since been by no means slow or unimportant; and the
subject now forms a recognized and obligatory portion of medical
study. The first lectures delivered in Great Britain were given in
the university of Edinburgh in 1801 by the elder Dr Duncan; and
the first professorship was held by his son in 1803. Dr Alfred
Swaine Taylor gave the first course of lectures delivered in England,
at Guy's Hospital in 1831; and in 1863 the university of London
made forensic medicine a separate subject for examination and
honours for medical graduates. In 1822 there was not in the
English language any treatise of authority either on medical juris-
prudence or on any important division of the subject ; for it was not
till the following year that the useful compendium Of Paris and
Fonblanque was published; and even in the middle of the 19th
century medical jurisprudence may be said to have been almost in
its infancy as compared with what it is now. From 1829 Great
Britain produced an abundant crop of literature on forensic medicine.
Sir Robert Christison's admirable treatise on Toxicology, Dr A. S.
Taylor's Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence (1905
edition, by F. J. Smith), the same author's Elements of Medical
Jurisprudence, Dr Guy's Forensic Medicine, and Ogston's Lectures
on Medical Jurisprudence have become well-known and widely circu-
lated works. The separate memoirs of Taylor, Christison, Guy and
others are also storehouses of facts and deductions in the science.
America, too, has not been behindhand in the race. F. Wharton and
M. Still^'s Manual, Wormley's Toxicology, and the works of Beck
and Reese have furthered the study of the science.
See also Dixon Mann, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (London,
1902); Wynter Blyth, Poisons: their Effects and Detection (London,
1895); Allbutt and Rolleston, A System of Medicine, vol. ii. " Intoxi-
cations " (London, 1909); Vaughan, Twentieth Century Practice of
Medicine, vol. xiii. article " Ptomaines, Toxins and Leucomaines "
(London, 1898) ; Maschka, Handbuch der gerichtlichen Medicin
(Tubingen, 1881-1882); Hofmann, Lehrbuch der gerichtlichen
Medicin (Wien, 1898); Strassmann, Lehrbuch der gerichtlichen
Medicin (Stuttgart, 1895); Xunkel, Handbuch der Toxikologie
(Jena, 1899); Brouardel, L' Infanticide, La Pendaison, &c. (Paris,
1897). (H. H. L.; T. A. I.)
MEDICI, the name of a family renowned in Italian history for
the extraordinary number of statesmen to whom it gave birth,
and for its magnificent patronage of letters and art. They
emerged from private life and rose to power by means of a very
subtle policy that was persistently pursued from generation to
generation. The origin of the family is buried in obscurity.
Some court historians indeed declare it to have been founded
by Perseus, and assert that Benvenuto Cellini's bronze Perseus
holding on high the head of Medusa was executed and placed in
the Loggia dei Lanzi at Florence to symbolize the victory of the
Salvestro.
Mediaj over the republic. But this only proves that the real
origin of the family is unknown, and equally unknown is the
precise signification of the Medicean arms — six red balls on a
field of gold.
The name appears in Florentine chronicles as early as the close
of the 1 2th century, although only casually mentioned in con-
nexion with various offices of the republic. The
first of the family to be a distinct figure in history ^ ar,y
was Salvestro dei Medici, who, in 1378, took an active the Name.
part in the revolt of the Ciompi — so called because it
was led by a wool-carder (ciompo) , one Michele di Lando, and
because the chief share in it was taken by the populace, who held
the reins of government for some time, and sought to obtain
extended political rights. Although Michele di Lando was the
nominal chief of the revolt, Salvestro dei Medici was its real
leader. The latter, although a member of the greater gilds,
had joined the lesser and sought to be at their head, in order to
lay the foundation of his own power and that of his kindred by
attacking the Albizzi, who were the leading men of
the greater gilds. The victory of the Ciompi,
however, was brief, for the excesses of the lower classes brought
about a reaction, in which they were crushed, and Michele di
Lando sent into banishment. Nevertheless the lesser gilds had
gained some ground by this riot, and Salvestro dei Medici the
great popularity at which he had aimed. His policy during
that period had traced the sole possible road to power in
liberty-loving Florence. This was the road henceforth pursued
by the Medici.
On Salvestro's death in 1388 the Albizzi repossessed them-
selves of the government, and conducted the wars of the republic.
Vieri dei Medici, who seems to have been the next
head of the family, understanding the temper of
the times, abstained from becoming a popular leader, and left
it to his successors to prosecute the task under easier conditions.
Then, in the person of Giovanni, son of Averardo Bicci dei Medici
(1360-1429), another branch of the family arose, and became
its representative branch. Indeed this Giovanni may be con-
sidered the actual founder of Medicean greatness. He took little
part in political affairs, but realized an immense fortune by trade
— establishing banks in Italy and abroad, which in his successor's
hands became the most efficient engines of political power. The
Council of Constance (1414-1418) enabled Giovanni dei Medici
to realize enormous profits. Besides, like his ancestor Salvestro,
he was a constant supporter of the lesser gilds in Florence.
Historians record his frequent resistance to the Albizzi when
they sought to oppress the people with heavier taxation, and his
endeavours to cause the chief weight to fall upon the richer
classes. For this reason he was in favour of the so-called law of
catasto, which, by assessing the property of every citizen,
prevented those in power from arbitrarily imposing taxes that
unjustly burdened the people. In this way, and by liberal loans
of money to all who were in need of it, he gained a reputation
that was practically the foundation-stone of the grand family
edifice. Giovanni dei Medici died in 1429 leaving two sons,
Cosimo (1389-1464) and Lorenzo (1395-1440). From the former
proceeded the branch that held absolute sway for many genera-
tions over the nominal republic of Florence, and gave to Italy
popes like Leo X. and Clement VII. On the extinction of this
elder line in the 16th century, the younger branch derived from
Lorenzo, Cosimo's brother, seemed to acqujre new life, and for
two centuries supplied grand-dukes to Tuscany.
Cosimo, surnamed Cosimo the Elder, to distinguish hifiKfrom
the many others bearing the same name, and honoured after his
death by the title of pater patriae, first succeeded
in solving the strange problem of becoming absolute ^ e ™°
ruler of a republic keenly jealous of its liberty, with-
out holding any fixed office, without suppressing any
previous form of government, and always preserving the
appearance and demeanour of a private citizen. Born in 1389,
he had reached the age of forty at the time of his father's death.
He had a certain amount of literary culture, and throughout
his life showed much taste and an earnest love both for letters
32
MEDICI (FAMILY)
and art. But his father had mainly trained him to commerce,
for which he had a special liking and aptitude. He was devoted
to business to the day of his death, and like his forefathers
derived pecuniary advantage from his friendly relations with the
papal court. He accompanied Pope John XXIII. to the Council
of Constance, transacted a vast amount of business in that city,
and made very large gains. He then travelled in Germany, and
after his return to Florence discharged several ambassadorial
missions. At the death of his father he was possessed of a vast
fortune and an extended experience, and inherited the leadership
of the opposition to the then dominant party of the greater gilds
headed by Rinaldo degli Albizzi, Palla Strozzi and Niccold da
Uzzano. Of gentle and kindly manners, generous in lending and
even in giving money whenever he could gain popularity by
that means, at critical moments he frequently came to the
succour of the government itself. He was very dexterous in
turning his private liberalities to account for the increase of his
political prestige, and showed no less acumen and still fewer
scruples in making use of his political prestige for purposes of
pecuniary profit. Indeed, whenever his own interests were at
stake, he showed himself capable of positive villainy, although
this was always tempered by calculation. Cosimo proved his
skill in these knavish arts during the war between Florence and
Lucca. He had joined the Albizzi in urging on this war, and
many writers assert that he turned it to much pecuniary advan-
tage by means of loans to the government and other banking
operations. When, however, military affairs went badly, Cosimo
joined the discontented populace in invectives against the war
and those who had conducted it. This won him an enormous
increase of popularity, but the hatred of the Albizzi and their
friends augmented in equal degree, and a conflict became
inevitable. The Albizzi, who were far more impetuous and im-
patient than Cosimo, were now bent upon revenge. In 1433
one of their friends, Bernardo Guadagni, was elected gonfalonier,
and thereupon Cosimo dei Medici was called to the palace and
summarily imprisoned in the tower. A general assembly of the
people was convoked and a balia chosen, which changed the
government and sent Cosimo into exile. Undoubtedly the
Albizzi party would have preferred a heavier sentence, but they
did not dare to attempt their enemy's life, being well aware of the
great number of his adherents. Cosimo had some apprehension
that he might be poisoned in prison, but Federigo dei Malavolti,
captain of the palace guard, showed him the utmost kindness,
and, to soothe his fears, voluntarily shared his meals. On the
3rd of October the prisoner was sent to Padua, his allotted
place of exile.
The Albizzi speedily saw that they had done either too much
or too little. While seeking to keep the government entirely
in their own hands, they beheld the continual growth of the
Medici party. When it was necessary to make a campaign in
Romagna against the mercenary captains commanding the
forces of the duke of Milan, it was plainly seen that in banishing
Cosimo the republic had lost the only citizen banker in a position
to assist it with considerable loans. The Florentines were
defeated by Piccinino in 1434, and this event greatly increased
the public exasperation against the Albizzi. Meanwhile Cosimo,
who had gone to Padua as a private individual, was entertained
there like a prince. Then, being permitted to transfer his resi-
dence to Venice, he entered on a course of lavish expenditure.
He was overwhelmed with letters and appeals from Florence.
Finally, on the 1st of September 1434, a signory was elected
composed of his friends, and his recall was decreed. Rinaldo
degli Albizzi determined to oppose it by force, and rushed to the
Piazza with a band of armed men; but his attempt failed, and
he left the country to return no more. The Medici were now
reinstated in all their former dignities and honours, and Cosimo,
on the evening of the 6th of September, rode past the deserted
mansions of the Albizzi and re-entered his own dwelling after an
exile of a year. For three centuries, dating from that moment,
the whole history of Florence was connected with that of the
house of Medici.
Cosimo's first thought was to secure himself against all future
risk of removal from Florence, and accordingly he drove the
most powerful citizens into exile to all parts of Italy. Nor did
he spare even his former political adversary, Palla
Strozzi, although the latter had been favourable to r/,e „?°7"'"
■ . , . 1 1 t T . ■ 1 • "tent of
him during the , recent changes. His rigour in this Florence.
particular case, was universally censured, but Cosimo
would tolerate no rivals in the city, and was resolved to abase the
great families and establish his power by the support of the lower
classes. He was accustomed to say that states could, not be
ruled by paternosters. Still, when cruelty seemed requisite,
he always contrived that the chief odium of it should fall upon
others. When Neri Capponi, the valiant soldier and able
diplomatist, gained great public favour by his military prowess,
and his influence was further increased by the friendship of
Baldaccio d'Anghiari, captain of the infantry, Cosimo jesolved to
weaken his position by indirect means. Accordingly, when in
1441 a partisan of the Medici was elected gonfalonier, Baldaccio
was instantly summoned to the palace, imprisoned, murdered,
and his body hurled from the window. No one could actually
fix this crime upon Cosimo, but the majority believed that he
had thus contrived to rid himself of one enemy and cripple
another without showing his hand. It was impossible for Cosirno
openly to assume the position of tyrant of Florence, nor was
it worth his while to become gonfalonier, since the term of office
only lasted two months. It was necessary to discover some other
way without resorting to violence; he accordingly employed what
were then designated " civil methods." He managed to attain
his object by means of the balie. These magistracies, which
were generally renewed every five years, placed in the ballot-
bags the names of the candidates from whom the signory and
other chief magistrates were to be chosen. As soon as a balia
favourable to Cosimo was formed, he was assured for five years
of having the government in the hands of men devoted to his
interests. He had comprehended that the art of politics depended
rather upon individuals than institutions, and that he who ruled
men could also dictate laws. His foreign policy was no less
astute. His great wealth enabled him to supply money not
only to private individuals, but even to foreign potentates.
Philippe de Comines tells us that Cosimo frequently furnished
Edward IV. of England with sums amounting to many hundred
thousand florins. When Tommaso Parentucelli was still a
cardinal, and in needy circumstances, Cosimo made him consider-
able loans without demanding guarantees of payment. On the
cardinal's accession to the tiara as Nicholas V. he was naturally
very well disposed towards Cosimo, and employed the Medici
bank in Rome in all the affairs of the curia. At the time when
Francesco Sforza was striving for the lordship of Milan, Cosimo
foresaw his approaching triumph, showed him great friendship,
and aided him with large sums of money. Accordingly, when
Sforza became lord of Milan, Cosimo's power was doubled.
Without the title of prince, this merchant showed royal
generosity in his expenditure for the promotion of letters and
the fine arts. Besides his palace in the city, he constructed noble
villas at Careggi, Fiesole and other places. He
built the basilica of Fiesole, and that of St Lorenzo
Cosimo's
Patronage
of Art.
in Florence, and enlarged the church and monastery
of St Mark. Even in distant Jerusalem he endowed
a hospice for the use of pilgrims. The artists of the day
comprised men like Donatello, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Luca
della Robbia, and many others, and Cosimo's magnificent com-
missions not only developed their powers but stimulated other
men of wealth to the patronage of art. Without being a scholaT>-
Cosimo had a genuine taste for letters. He purchased j,any
Greek and Latin manuscripts; he opened the first public library
at St Mark's at his own expense, and founded another in the
abbey of Fiesole. The Greek refugees from Constantinople
found a constant welcome in his palace. During the Council of
Florence (1430-1442), Gemistus Pletho spoke to him with enthusi-
asm of the Platonic philosophy. Cosimo was so deeply attracted
by the theme that he decided to have the young Marsilio Ficino
trained in philosophy and Greek learning in order to make a
Latin translation of the complete works of Plato. And thus t>
MEDICI (FAMILY)
33
version was produced that is still considered one of the best
extant, and that Platonic academy was founded which led to
such important results in the history of Italian philosophy and
letters. On the ist of August 1464 Cosimo breathed his last, at
the age of seventy-five, while engaged in listening to one of
Plato's dialogues.
The concluding years of his life had been years of little happi-
ness for Florence. Being old and infirm, he had left the govern-
ment to the management of his friends, among whom Luca Pitti
was one of the most powerful, and they had ruled with disorder,
corruption and cruelty. The lordship of Florence accordingly
did not pass without some difficulty and danger into the hands of
Piero, surnamed the Gouty, Cosimo's only surviving
Qoaty. * legitimate son. Afflicted by gout, and so terribly
crippled that he was often only able to use his
tongue, the new ruler soon discovered that a plot was on foot
to overthrow his power. However, showing far more courage
than he was supposed to possess, he had himself borne on a
litter from his villa to Florence, defeated his enemies' designs,
and firmly re-established his authority. But his success may
be mainly attributed to the enormous prestige bequeathed
by Cosimo to his posterity. Piero died at the end of five years'
reign, on the 3rd of December 1469, leaving two sons, Lorenzo
(1440-1492) and Giuliano (1453-1478). The younger, the
gentler and less ambitious of the pair, was quickly removed
from the world. Lorenzo, on the contrary, at once seized
the reins of state with a firm grasp, and was, chronologically,
the second of the great men bestowed upon Italy by the
house of Medici. In literary talent he was immensely
superior to Cosimo, but greatly his inferior in the conduct
of the commercial affairs of the house. In politics he had
nobler conceptions and higher ambitions, but he was more
easily carried away by his passions, less prudent in his revenge,
and more disposed to tyranny. He had studied letters from his
earliest years under the guidance of Ficino and other leading
litterati of the day. At the age of eighteen he visited the different
courts of Italy. At his father's death he was only twenty-one
years old, but instantly showed his determination
to govern Florence with greater despotism than his
father or grandfather. He speedily resorted to the system of the
balie, and was very dexterous in causing the first to be chosen
to suit his purpose. He then proceeded to humiliate the great
families and exalt those of little account, and this was the policy
he constantly pursued. His younger brother Giuliano, being of
a mild and yielding disposition, had only a nominal share in the
government.
Lorenzo's policy, although prosecuted with less caution, was
still the old astute and fortunate policy initiated by Cosimo.
But the grandson bestowed no care upon his commercial interests,
although squandering his fortune with far greater lavishness.
Accordingly he was sometimes driven to help himself frpm the
public purse without ever being able to assist it as Cosimo had
done. All this excited blame and enmity against him, while
his greed in the matter of the alum mines of Volterra, and the
subsequent sack of that unhappy city, were crimes for which
chere was no excuse. Among his worst enemies were the Pazzi,
and, as they formed a very powerful clan, he sought their ruin
by competing with them even in business transactions. They
were on the point of inheriting the large property of Giovanni
Borromeo when Lorenzo hurriedly caused a law to be passed
that altered the right of succession. The hatred of the Pazzi
was thereby exasperated to fury. And in addition to these
things there ensued a desperate quarrel with Pope Sixtus IV.,
a man of very impetuous temper, who, on endeavouring to erect
a state on the frontiers of the Florentine republic for the benefit
of his nephews, found a determined and successful opponent in
Lorenzo. Consequently the Pazzi and Archbishop Salviati,
another enemy of Lorenzo, aided by the nephews of the pontiff,
who was himself acquainted with the whole matter, determined
to put an end to the family. On the 26th of April 1478, while
Giuliano and Lorenzo were attending high mass in the cathedral
of Florence, the former was mortally stabbed by conspirators,
Lorenzo.
but the latter was able to beat back his assailants and escape
into the sacristy. His life preserved, and no longer having to
share the government with a brother, Lorenzo profited by the
opportunity to wreak cruel vengeance upon his foes. Several
of the Pazzi and their followers were hanged from the palace
windows; others were hacked to pieces, dragged through the
streets, and cast into the Arno, while a great many more were
condemned to death or sent into exile. Lorenzo seemed willing
and able to become a tyrant. But he stopped short of this
point. He knew the temper of the city, and had also to look
to fresh dangers threatening him from without. The pope had
excommunicated him, put Florence under an interdict, and,
being seconded by the Neapolitan king, made furious war
against the republic. The Florentines began to tire of submitting
to so many hardships in order to support the yoke of a fellow-
citizen. Lorenzo's hold over Florence seemed endangered.
But he rose superior to the difficulties by which he was encom-
passed. He boldly journeyed to Naples, to the court of King
Ferdinand of Aragon, who was reputed to be as treacherous as
he was cruel, and succeeded in obtaining from him an honourable
peace, that soon led to a reconciliation with Sixtus. Thus at
last Lorenzo found himself complete master of Florence. But, as
the balie changed every five years, it was always requisite,
in order to retain his supremacy, that he should be prepared
to renew the usual manoeuvre at the close of that term and have
another elected equally favourable to his aims. This was often
a difficult achievement, and Lorenzo showed much dexterity in
overcoming all obstacles. In 1480 he compassed the institution
of a new council of seventy, which was practically a permanent
balla with extended powers, inasmuch as it no* only elected
the chief magistrates, but had also the administration of numer-
ous state affairs. This permanent council of devoted adherents
once formed, his security was firmly established. By this
means, the chroniclers tell us, " liberty was buried," but the chief
affairs of the state were always conducted by intelligent and
experienced men, who promoted the public prosperity. Florence
was still called a republic; the old institutions were still preserved,
if only in name. Lorenzo was absolute lord of all, and virtually
a tyrant. His immorality was scandalous; he kept an army of
spies; he frequently meddled in the citizens' most private affairs,
and exalted men of the lowest condition to important offices of
the state. Yet, as Guicciardini remarks, " if Florence was to
have a tyrant, she could never have found a better or more
pleasant one," In fact all industry, commerce and public
works made enormous progress. The civil equality of modern
states, which was quite unknown to the middle ages, was more
developed in Florence than in any other city of the world.
Even the condition of the peasantry was far more prosperous
than elsewhere. Lorenzo's authority was not confined to Tus-
cany, but was also very great throughout the whole of Italy.
He was on the friendliest terms with Pope Innocent VIII. , from
whom he obtained the exaltation of his son Giovanni to the
cardinalate at the age of fourteen. This boy-cardinal was after-
wards Pope Leo X. From the moment of the decease of
Sixtus IV., the union of Florence and Rome became the basis of
Lorenzo's foreign policy. By its means he was able to
prevent the hatreds and jealousies of the Sforzas of Milan and
the Aragonese of Naples from bursting into the open conflict
that long threatened, and after his death actually caused, the
beginning of new and irreparable calamities. Hence Lorenzo
was styled the needle of the Italian compass. - ;
But the events we have narrated cannot suffice for trie full
comprehension of this complex character, unless we add the
record of his deeds as a patron of letters and his achievements as
a writer. His palace was the school and resort of illustrious men.
Within its walls were trained the two young Medici afterwards
known to the world as Leo X. and Clement VII. Ficino,
Poliziano, Pico della Mirandola and all members of the Platonic
academy were its constant habitues. It was here that Puld
gave readings of his Morgante, and Michelangelo essayed the
first strokes of his chisel. Lorenzo's intellectual powers were
of exceptional strength and versatility. He could speak with
xvm. a
34
MEDICI (FAMILY)
equal fluency on painting, sculpture, music, philosophy, and
poetry. But his crowning superiority over every other Maecenas
known to history lay in his active participation in the intellectual
labours that he promoted.- Indeed at certain moments he was
Lorenzo as positively the leading spirit among the litterati of his
a Man of time. He was an elegant prose writer, and was
Letters. likewise a poet of real originality. At that period
Italians were forsaking erudition in order to forward the revival
of the national literature by recurring to the primitive sources
of the spoken tongue and popular verse. It is Lorenzo's lasting
glory to have been the initiator of this movement. Without
being — as some have maintained — a poet of genius, he was
certainly a writer of much finish and eloquence, and one of the
first to raise popular poetry to the dignity of art. In his Ambra,
his Caccia del falcone and his Nencia da Barberino, he gives
descriptions of nature and of the rural life that he loved, with the
graphic power of an acute and tasteful observer, joined to an
ease of style that occasionally sins by excess of homeliness.
Both in his art and in his politics he leant upon the people.
The more oppressive his government, the more did he seek in his
verses to incite the public to festivities and lull it to slumber by
sensual enjoyments. In his Ballate, or songs for dancing, and
more especially in his carnival songs, a kind of verse invented by
himself, Lorenzo displayed all the best qualities and worst defects
of his muse. Marvellously and spontaneously elegant, very
truthful and fresh in style, fertile in fancy and rich in colour, they
are often of a most revolting indecency. And these compositions
of one filling a princely station in the city were often sung by
their author in the public streets, in the midst of the populace.
Lorenzo left three sons — Pietro (1471-1503), Giovanni
(1475-1521) and Giuliano (1479-1516). He was succeeded by
Pietro, whose rule lasted but for two years. During this brief
term he performed no good deeds, and only displayed inordinate
vanity and frivolity. His conduct greatly helped to foment the
hatred between Lodovico Sforza and Ferdinand of Naples,
which hastened the coming of the French under Charles VIII.,
and the renewal of foreign invasions. No sooner did the. French
approach the frontiers of Tuscany than Pietro, crazed with fear,
_ fefa ^ hastened to meet them, and, basely yielding to every
demand, accepted terms equally humiliating to him-
self and the state. But, returning to Florence, he found that
the enraged citizens had already decreed his deposition, in order
to reconstitute the republic, and was therefore compelled to
escape to Venice. His various plots to reinstate himself in
Florence were all unsuccessful. At last he went to the south of
Italy with the French, was drowned at the passage of the
Garigliano in 1503, and was buried in the cloister of Monte
Cassino.
The ensuing period was adverse to the Medici, for a republican
government was maintained in Florence from 1494 to 151 2, and
the city remained faithful to its alliance with the French, who
were all-powerful in Italy. Cardinal Giovanni, the head of the
family, resided in Rome, playing the patron to a circle of litterati,
artists and friends, seeking to increase his popularity, and calmly
waiting for better days. The battle of Ravenna wrought the
downfall of the fortunes of France in Italy, and led to the rise
of those of Spain, whose troops entered Florence to destroy the
republic and reinstate the Medici. Pietro had now been dead
for some time, leaving a young son, Lorenzo (149 2-1 5 19), who
was afterwards duke of Urbino. The following year (isr3)
Cardinal Giovanni was elected pope, and assumed the name of
Cardinal ^ jeo ^ - ^ e accor dingly removed to Rome, leaving
Giovanni his brother Giuliano with his nephew Lorenzo in
(LeoX.), Florence, and accompanied by his cousin Giulio,
aiuiiano, wno was a natural son f the Giuliano murdered
in the conspiracy of the Pazzi, and was soon destined
to be a cardinal and ultimately a pope. Meanwhile his kinsmen
in Florence continued to govern that city by means of a
bolia. And thus, being masters of the whole of central Italy,
the Medici enjoyed great authority throughout the country
and their ambition plumed itself for still higher flights. This
was the moment when Niccolo Machiavelli, in his treatise The
Prince, counselled them to accomplish the unity of Italy by
arming the whole nation, and expelling its foreign invaders.
Leo X., who is only indirectly connected with the history of
Florence, gave his name to the age in which he lived in conse-
quence of his magnificent patronage of art and letters in Rome.
But he was merely a clever amateur, and had not the literary
gifts of his father Lorenzo. He surrounded himself with versi-
fiers and inferior writers, who enlivened his board and accom-
panied him wherever he went. He liked to lead a gay and
untroubled life, was fond of theatrical performances, satires and
other intellectual diversions. His patronage of the fine arts, his
genuine affection for Raphael, and the numerous works he caused
to be executed by him and other artists, have served to confer
an exaggerated glory on his name. He had not the remotest
idea of the grave importance of the Reformation, which indeed
he unconsciously promoted by his reckless and shameless sale
of indulgences. The whole policy of Pope Leo X. consisted in
oscillating between France and Spain, in always playing fast and
loose, and deceiving both powers in turn. Yet the evil results
of this contemptible policy never seemed to disturb his mind.
He finally joined the side of the emperor Charles V., and in 1521,
at the time of the defeat of the French by the Spanish troops
on the river Adda, he ceased to breathe at his favourite villa of
Magliana.
Giuliano dei Medici had died during Leo's reign, in I5r6,
without having ever done anything worthy of record. He was the
husband of Philiberta of Savoy, was duke of Nemours, and left a
natural son, Ippolito dei Medici (1511-1535), who afterwards
became a cardinal. Lorenzo, being of more ambitious temper,
was by no means content to remain at the head of the Florence
government hampered by many restrictions imposed by republi-
can institutions, and subject to the incessant control of the pope.
In his eagerness to aggrandize his kinsmen, the latter had further
decided to give Lorenzo the duchy of Urbino, and formally
invested him in its rights, after expelling on false pretences its
legitimate lord, Francesco Maria della Rovere. This prince,
however, soon returned to Urbino, where he was joyously
welcomed by his subjects, and Lorenzo regained possession only
by a war of several months, in which he was wounded. In 15 19
he also died, worn out by disease and excess. By his marriage
with Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, he had one daughter,
Caterina dei Medici (1519-1589), married in 1533 to Henry,
duke of Orleans, afterwards king of France. She played a long
and sinister part in the history of that country. Lorenzo also
left a natural son named Alessandro, inheriting the frizzled hair
and projecting lips of the negro or mulatto slave who had given
him birth. His miserable death will be presently related. Thus
the only three surviving representatives of the chief branch of
the Medici, Cardinal Giulio, Ippolito and Alessandro were all of
illegitimate birth, and left no legitimate heirs.
Cardinal Giulio, who had laboured successfully for the rein-
statement of his family in Florence in 151 2, had been long
attached to the person of Leo X. as his trusted factotum and com-
panion. He had been generally regarded as the mentor of the
pope, who had no liking for hard work. But in fact, his frivolity
notwithstanding, Leo X. always followed his own inclinations.
He had much aptitude for command, and pursued his shuffling
policy without any mental anxiety. Giulio, on the contrary,
shrank from all responsibility, muddled his brains in weighing
the reasons for and against every possible decision, and was
therefore a better tool of government in others' hands than he
was fit to govern on his own account. When Giuliano a*rld
Lorenzo died, the pope appointed the cardinal to the government
of Florence. In that post, restricted within the limits imposed
by republican institutions, and acting under the continual
direction of Rome, he performed his duties fairly well. He
caressed the citizens with hopes of extended liberties, cardinal
which, although never destined to be fulfilled, long aiuilo
served to keep men's minds in a pleasant flutter of (.Clement
expectation; and when the more impatient spirits "'*
attempted to raise a rebellion he speedily quenched it in blood.
When, after the death of Leo X. and the very brief pontificate
MEDICI (FAMILY)
35
of Adrian VI., he was elected pope (1523) under the name of
Clement VII., he entrusted the government of Florence to
Cardinal Silvio Passerini conjointly with Alessandro and Ippo-
lito, who were still too young to do much on their own account.
The pontificate of Leo X. had been a time of felicity to himself
if of disaster to Italy and the Church. The reign of Clement,
on the contrary, was fatal to himself as well. His policy, like
that of Leo X., consisted in perpetual oscillation between France
and Spain. By his endeavours to trick all the world, he fre-
quently ended in being tricked himself. In 1525 he was the
ally of the French, who then suffered a terrible defeat at Pavia,
where their king Francis I. was taken prisoner. The armies of
Charles V. triumphantly advanced, without Clement being able
to oppose any effectual resistance. Both Rome and Florence
were threatened with a fearful catastrophe.
Thus far we have had no occasion to speak of the younger
branch of the Medici, descended from Lorenzo, brother to Cosimo
the elder. Always in obscurity, and hitherto held in check by
the elder line, it first entered the arena of history when the other
was on the point of extinction. In fact the most valiant captain
of the papal forces was Giovanni dei Medici, afterwards known
by the name of Giovanni delle Bande Nere. His father was
Giovanni, son of Pier Francesco, who was the son of Lorenzo,
the brother of Cosimo dei Medici. History has little to tell of
the elder Giovanni; but his wife Caterina Sforza, of whom he was
the third husband, was a woman of more than masculine vigour.
Giovanni dei Medici married her in 1497, but died in 1498,
leaving her with one son who was christened Lodovico, but after-
wards took his father's name of Giovanni (1498-
°^ v ""' 1526). Trained to arms from his earliest years, this
Nere. youth inherited all the energy of his mother, whose
Sforza blood seemed to infuse new life into the
younger branch of the Medici. Notwithstanding his extreme
youth, he had already achieved the title of the best captain in
Italy. He had always fought with immense dash and daring,
and was devotedly loved and obeyed by his soldiery. He was
the only leader who opposed a determined resistance to the
imperial forces. He was seriously wounded at Pavia when
fighting on the French side. On his recovery he joined the army
of the League, and was much enraged by finding that the duke
of Urbino, commander of the Venetian and papal forces, would
never decide on attacking. When the imperial troops were
struggling through the marshes of Mantua, surrounded on every
side, and without stores or ammunition, Giovanni could not
resign himself to inactivity like his colleagues in command.
He was ignorant that the imperialists had just received supplies
and artillery from the duke of Ferrara, and therefore daringly
attacked them with a small body of men without taking any,
precautions for defence. One of the first shots fired by the
enemy injured him so fatally that he died a few days after.
He was married to Maria Salviati, by whom he had one son,
Cosimo (1510-1574), who became the first grand duke of
Tuscany, and indeed the founder of the grand duchy and the
new dynasty.
Meanwhile the imperial army pursued its march upon Rome,
captured the Eternal City after a few hours' combat, and cruelly
sacked it during many days (1527). Thanks to his perpetual
shuffling and excessive avarice, the pope found himself utterly
forsaken, and was obliged to seek refuge in the castle of St
Angelo, whence he only effected his escape after some months.
He then signed a treaty of alliance with the emperor (1529),
who sent an army to besiege Florence and restore the Medici,
whom the people had expelled in 1527 on the re-establishment
of the republic. After an heroic defence, the city was forced
to surrender (1530); and, although it was expressly stipulated
that the ancient liberties of Florence should be respected, every
one foresaw that the conditions would be violated. In fact,
pope and emperor immediately began to dispute as to which
should be the new lord of the city. Clement VII. had inherited
the traditional family dislike for the younger branch of his kin,
and so the choice lay between the two bastards Ippolito and
Alessandro. The former being a cardinal, the latter was chosen.
Alessandro, who already bore the title of duke of Citta di Penna,
came to Florence in 1531, and by imperial patent was nominated
head of the republic. According to the terms of this
patent, the former liberty enjoyed under the Medicean . . .
rule was to remain intact. But no previous ruler
of the city had enjoyed hereditary power confirmed by
imperial patent, and such power was incompatible with the
existence of a republic. Moreover, Clement VII. showed dis-
satisfaction with the uncertainty of the power conferred upon
his kinsman, and finally succeeded in obtaining additional
privileges. On the 4th of April 1532 a parliament was convoked
for the last time in Florence, and, as usual, approved every
measure proposed for acceptance. Accordingly a new council
was formed of two hundred citizens elected for life, forty-eight
of which number were to constitute a senate. Alessandro, as
duke of the republic, filled the post of gonfalonier, and carried
on the government with the assistance of three senators, changed
every three months, who took the place of the suppressed
signory.
The duke's chief advisers, and the contrivers of all these
arrangements were Baccio Valori, Francesco Vettori and above
all Francesco Guicciardini — men, especially the latter two, of
lofty political gifts and extensive influence. The mind and
character of Duke Alessandro were as yet comparatively un-
known. At first he seemed disposed to rule with justice and
prudence. But encountering difficulties that he was unable to
overcome, he began to neglect the business of the state, and
acted as if the sole function of government consisted in lulling
the people by festivities, and corrupting it by the dissolute life
of which he set the example. The question of the moment was
the transformation of the old republican regime into a princedom;
as an unavoidable result of this change it followed that Florence
was no longer to be the ruling city to whose inhabitants alone
belonged the monopoly of political office. When the leading
Florentine families realized not only that the republic was
destroyed, but that they were reduced to equality with those
whom they had hitherto regarded as their inferiors and subjects,
their rage was indescribable, and hardly a day passed without
the departure of influential citizens who were resolved to achieve
the overthrow of their new ruler. They found a leader in Cardi-
nal Ippolito dei Medici, who was then in Rome,
embittered by the preference given to Alessandro, ippolito.
and anxious to become his successor with the least
possible delay. Under the pressure of terror the duke at once
became a tyrant. He garrisoned the different cities, and began
the erection in Florence of the Fortezza da Basso, built chiefly
at the expense of Filippo Strozzi, who afterwards met his death
within its walls.
In 1534 Clement VII. died, and the election fell on Paul III.,
from whom Cardinal Ippolito hoped to obtain assistance.
Accordingly the principal Florentine exiles were despatched to
, Charles V. with complaints of Alessandro's tyranny and his
shameless violation of the terms upon which the city had surren-
dered. Cardinal Ippoloto also represented his own willingness
to carry on the government of Florence in a more equitable
manner, and promised the emperor a large sum of money.
Reply being delayed by the emperor's absence, he became so
impatient that he set out to meet Charles in Tunis, but on the
10th of August 1535 died suddenly at Itri, poisoned by order
of Alessandro. Such at least was the general belief, and it was
confirmed by the same fate befalling other enemies of the duke
about the same time. On the emperor's return from Africa,
the exiles presented themselves to him in Naples, and the vener-
able patriot Jacopo Nardi pleaded their cause. Duke Alessan-
dro, being cited to appear, came to Naples accompanied by
Francesco Guicciardini, who by speaking in his defence rendered
himself odious to all friends of liberty, and irretrievably tarnished
his illustrious name. The cardinal being dead, it was hard to
find a successor to Alessandro. On this account, and perhaps
to some extent through the emperor's personal liking for the
duke, the latter rose higher than before in the imperial favour,
married Margaret of Austria, the natural daughter of Charles,
36
MEDICI (FAMILY)
and returned to Florence with increased power. And now
Alessandro indulged unchecked in the lowest excesses of tyranny,
and although so recently a bridegroom gave way to increased
libertinism. His whole time was passed in vicious haunts and
in scandalous adventures. In order to conceal the obscurity of
his birth, he left his mother to starve, and it was even asserted
that he finally got rid of her by poison.
His constant associate in this disgraceful routine was his
distant kinsman Lorenzo, generally known as Lorenzino dei
Medici. Of the younger branch of the Medici, the
del Medld. latter was second cousin of the Cosimo already
mentioned as the son of Giovanni delle Bande Nere.
He had much culture and literary talent, but led an irregular
life, sometimes acting like a madman and sometimes like a
villain. He was a writer of considerable elegance, the author of
several plays, one of which, the Aridosio, was held to be among
the best of his age, and he was a worshipper^ antiquity. Not-
withstanding these tastes, when in Rome he knocked off the
heads of some of the finest statues of the age of Adrian, an act
by which Clement VII. was so incensed that he threatened to
have him hanged. Thereupon Lorenzino fled to Florence,
where he became the friend of Duke Alessandro, and his partner
in the most licentious excesses. They went together to houses
of ill-fame, and violated private dwellings and convents. They
often showed themselves in public mounted on the same horse.
All Florence eyed them with disgust, but no one foresaw the
tragedy that was soon to take place.
On the evening of the 5th of January 1537, after a day passed
in the usual excesses, Lorenzino led the duke to his own lodging,
and left him there, promising shortly to return with
« S fl*o/ i,a " tne ^k °^ L eonar do Ginori. Alessandro, worn out
Alessandro. by the exertions of the day, fell asleep on the couch
while awaiting Lorenzino's return. Before long the
latter came accompanied by a desperado known as the Scoron-
concolo, who aided him in falling on the sleeper. Roused by
their first thrusts, the duke fought for his life, and was only
despatched after a violent struggle. The murderers then lifted
the body into a bed, hid it beneath the clothes, and, Lorenzino
having attached a paper to it bearing the words vincit amor
patriae, laudumque immensa cupido, they both fled to Venice.
In that city Lorenzino was assassinated some ten years later, in
1548, at the age of thirty-two, by order of Alessandro's successor.
He wrote an Apologia, in which he defended himself with great
skill and eloquence, saying that he had been urged to the deed
solely by love of liberty. For this reason alone he had followed
the example of Brutus and played 'the part of friend and courtier.
The tone of this Apologia is so straightforward, sometimes even
so eloquent and lofty, that we should be tempted to give it
credence were it possible to believe the assertions of one who not
only by his crime but by the infamy of his previous and subse-
quent career completely gave the lie to his vaunted nobility of
purpose. By Alessandro's death the elder branch of the Medici
became extinct, and thus the appearance of the younger line
was heralded by a bloody crime.
When the duke's absence from his own palace was discovered
on the morning of the 6th of January he was at first supposed to
_ have spent the night with one of his mistresses; but
soon, some alarm being felt, search was made, and
Cardinal Cybo was the first to discover the murder. Enjoining
the strictest secrecy, he kept the corpse concealed for three days,
and then had it interred in the sacristy of San Lorenzo. Mean-
while he had hastily summoned Alessandro Vitelli and the other
captains, so that, by the time Alessandro's death was made
public, the city was already filled with troops. The cardinal
then convoked the council of forty-eight to decide upon a suc-
cessor. Alessandro's only issue was a natural son named Giulio,
aged five. The cardinal favoured his election, in the hope of
keeping the real sovereignty in his own hands. But he speedily
saw the impossibility of carrying out a design that was ridiculed
by all. Guicciardini, Vettori and others of the leading citizens
favoured the choice of Cosimo, the son of Giovanni delle Bande
Nere. He was already in Florence, was aged seventeen, was
keen-witted and aspiring, strong and handsome in person, heir
to the enormous wealth of the Medici, and, by the terms of the
imperial patent, was Alessandro's lawful successor. Charles V.
approved the nomination of Cosimo, who without delay seized
the reins of government with a firm grasp. Like Alessandro, he
was named head of the republic; and Guicciardini and others who
had worked hardest in his cause hoped to direct him and keep
him under their control. But Cosimo soon proved that, his
youth notwithstanding, he was resolved to rule unshackled by
republican forms and unhampered by advisers disposed to act
as mentors. The Florentines had now an absolute prince who
was likewise a statesman of eminent ability.
On learning the death of Alessandro and the election of
Cosimo, the exiles appreciated the necessity for prompt action,
as delay would be fatal to the overthrow of the Medicean rule.
They had received money and promises from France; they were
strengthened by the adhesion, of Filippo Strozzi and Baccio
Valori, who had both become hostile to the Medici through the
infamous conduct and mad tyranny of Alessandro; and Strozzi
brought them the help of his enormous fortune and the prowess
of that very distinguished captain, his son Piero. The exiles
assembled their forces at Mirandola. They had about foul
thousand infantry and three hundred horse; among them were
members of all the principal Florentine families; and their
leaders were Bernardo Salviati and Piero Strozzi. They
marched rapidly, and entered Tuscany towards the end of July
1537. Cosimo on this occasion displayed signal capacity and
presence of mind. Informed of the exiles' movements by his
spies, he no sooner learned their approach than he ordered
Alessandro Vitelli to collect the best German, Spanish and Italian
infantry at his disposal, and advance against the enejny without
delay. On the evening of the 3 1st of July Vitelli marched towards
Prato with seven hundred picked infantry and a band of one
hundred horse, and on the way fell in with other Spanish foot
soldiers who joined the expedition. At early dawn the following
morning he made a sudden attack on the exiles' advanced guard
close to Montemurlo, an old fortress converted into a villa be-
longing to the Nerli. Having utterly routed them, he proceeded
to storm Montemurlo, where Filippo Strozzi and a few of his
young comrades had taken refuge. They made a desperate
resistance for some hours, and then, overwhelmed by superior
numbers, were obliged to yield themselves prisoners. The main
body of the army was still at some distance, having been detained
in the mountains by heavy rains and difficult passes, and, on
learning the defeat at Montemurlo, its leade/ turned back by the
way he haf 1 come. Alessandro Vitelli re-entered Florence with
his victorious army and his fettered captives. Cosimo had
achieved his first triumph.
All the prisoners, who were members of great families, were
brought before Cosimo, and were received by him with courteous
coldness. Soon, however, a scaffold was erected in the Piazza,
and on four mornings in succession four of the prisoners were
beheaded. Then the duke saw fit to stay the executions.
Baccio Valori, however, and his son and nephew were beheaded
on the 20th of August in the courtyard of the Bargello. Filippo
Strozzi still survived, confined in the Fortezza da Basso, that had
been built at his expense.' His family was illustrious, he had
numerous adherents, and he enjoyed the protection of the
French king. Nevertheless Cosimo only awaited some plausible
pretext to rid himself of this dreaded enemy. He brought him
to trial and had him put to the question. But this cruelty ie.d
to nothing, for Strozzi denied every accusation and bore the
torture with much fortitude. On the 18th of December he was
found dead in his prison, with a blood-stained sword by his side,
and a slip of paper bearing these words: exoriare aliquis nostril,
ex ossibus ultor. It was believed that, having renounced all
hope of his life being spared, Strozzi had preferred suicide to
death at the hands of the executioner. Some, however, thought
that Cosimo had caused him to be murdered, and adopted this
mode of concealing the crime. The young prince's cold-blooded
massacre of his captives cast an enduring shadow upon his reign
and dynasty. But it was henceforward plain to all that he was
MEDICI (FAMILY)
37
a man of stern resolve, who went straight to his end without
scruples or half-measures. Before long he was regarded by many
as the incarnation of Machiavelli's Prince, " inasmuch as he
joined daring to talent and prudence, was capable of great
cruelty, and yet could practise mercy in due season." Guicciar-
dini, who still pretended to act as mentor, and who on account
of his many services had a certain influence over him, was obliged
to withdraw from public life and busy himself with writing his
History at his villa of Arcetri. He died in this retreat in 1540,
and it was immediately rumoured that the duke had caused him
to be poisoned. This shows the estimation in which Cosimo
was now held. He punished with death all who dared to resist
his will. By 1 540 sentence of death had been pronounced against
four hundred and thirty contumacious fugitives, and during his
reign one hundred and forty men and six women actually
ascended the scaffold, without counting those who perished in
foreign lands by the daggers of his assassins. He reduced the
old republican institutions to empty forms, by making the magis-
trates mere creatures of his will. He issued the sternest edicts
against the rebels, particularly by the law known as the " Pol-
verina," from the name of its proposer Jacopo Polverini. This
law decreed not only the confiscation of the property of exiles,
but likewise that of their heirs, even if personally acquired by
the latter. Cosimo ruled like the independent sovereign of a
great state, and always showed the capacity, firmness and
courage demanded by that station. Only, his state being small
and weak, he was forced to rely chiefly upon his personal talent
and wealth. It was necessary for him to make heavy loans to
the different European sovereigns, especially to Charles V., the
most rapacious of them all, and to give enormous bribes to their
ambassadors. Besides, he had to carry on wars for the exten-
sion of his dominions; and neither his inherited wealth nor the
large sums gained by confiscating the estates of rebellious
subjects sufficed for all this outlay. He was accordingly com-
pelled to burden the people with taxes, and thus begin at once to
diminish its strength.
Cosimo bore a special grudge against the neighbouring
republics of Siena and Lucca. Although the latter was
small and weak, and the former garrisoned by
SJeaa seized. Spaniards, yet the spectacle of free institutions at
the frontiers of his own state served as a continual
incitement to subjects disaffected to the new r6gime. In fact
Francesco Burlamacchi, a zealous Lucchese patriot, had con-
ceived the design of re-establishing republican government in
all the cities of Tuscany. Cosimo, with the emperor's help,
succeeded in having him put to death. Lucca, however, was
an insignificant state making no pretence of rivalry, whereas
Siena was an old and formidable foe to Florence, and had always
given protection to the Florentine exiles. It was now very
reluctantly submitting to the presence of a Spanish garrison,
and, being stimulated by promises of prompt and efficacious
assistance from France, rose in rebellion and expelled the Span-
iards in 1552. Cosimo instantly wrote to the emperor in terms
that appealed to his pride, asked leave to attack Siena, and
begged for troops to ensure the success of his enterprise. As no
immediate answer arrived, he feigned to begin negotiations with
Henry II. of France, and, by thus arousing the imperial jealousy,
obtained a contingent of German and Spanish infantry. Siena
was besieged for fifteen months, and its inhabitants, aided by the
valour of Piero Strozzi, who fought under the French flag, made
a most heroic resistance, even women and children helping on
the walls. But fortune was against them. Piero Strozzi sus-
tained several defeats, and finally the Sienese, having exhausted
their ammunition and being decimated by famine and the sword,
were obliged to capitulate on honourable terms that were shame-
lessly violated. By the varied disasters of the siege and the
number of fugitives the population was reduced from forty to
eight thousand inhabitants. The republicans, still eager to
resist, withdrew to Montalcino. Cosimo now ruled the city and
territory of Siena in the name of Charles V., who always refused
him its absolute possession. After the emperor's abditation,
and the succession of Philip II. to the Spanish throne, Cosimo
at last obtained Siena and Porto Ferraio by giving up his claim
to a sum of 200,000 ducats that he was to have received from
Charles V.
In 1550 Cosimo also captured Montalcino, and thus formed the
grand-duchy of Tuscany, but he continued to govern the new
state — i.e. Siena and its territories — separately from
the old. His rule was intelligent, skilful and des- Grand-Ducby
potic; but his enormous expenses drove ham to raise formed.
large sums of money by special contrivances unsuited
to the country and the people. Hence, notwithstanding the
genius of its founder, the grand-duchy held from the first the
elements of its future decay. Cosimo preferred to confer office
upon men of humble origin in order to have pliable tools, but he
also liked to be surrounded by a courtier aristocracy on the
Spanish and French pattern. As no Tuscan aristocracy any
longer existed, he created new nobles, and tempted foreign ones
to come by the concession of various feudal privileges; and, to
turn this artificial aristocracy to some account, he founded the
knightly order of St Stephen, charged with the defence of the
coast against pirates, which in course of time won much honour
by its prowess. He also established a small standing army for
the protection of his frontiers; but he generally employed German
and Spanish troops for his wars, and always had a foreign body-
guard. At the commencement of his reign he opposed the popes
in order to maintain the independence of his own state; but later,
to obtain help, he truckled to them in many ways, even to the
extent of giving up to the Inquisition his own confidant, Piero
Carnesecchi, who, being accused of heresy, was beheaded and
burnt in 1567. In reward for these acts of submission, the popes
showed him friendship, and Pius V. granted him the title of
grand-duke, conferring the patent and crown upon him in Rome,
although the emperor had always withheld his consent. The
measure most injurious to Tuscany was the fiscal system of
taxes, of which the sole aim was to extort the greatest possible
amount of money. The consequent damage to industry, com-
merce and agriculture was immense, and, added to the devasta-
tions caused by the Sienese War, led to their utter ruin. Other-
wise Cosimo did not neglect useful measures for the interior
prosperity of his state. He was no Maecenas; nevertheless he
restored the Pisan university, enlarged that of Siena, had the
public records classified, and also executed public works like
the Santa Trinita. bridge. During the great inundations of 1557
he turned his whole energy to the relief of the sufferers.
In 1539 he had espoused Eleonora of Toledo, daughter of the
viceroy 01 Naples, by whom he had several children. Two died
in 1562, and their mother soon followed them to the grive. It
was said that one of these boys, Don Garcia, had murdered tht
other, and then been, killed by the enraged father. Indeed,
Cusimo was further accused of having put his own wife to death;
but neither rumour had any foundation. He now showed sign?
of illness and failure of strength. He was not old, but worn by
the cares of state and self-indulgence. Accordingly in i 564 h«
resigned the government to his eldest son, who was to act as his
lieutenant, since he wished to have power to resume the sceptre
on any emergency. In 1570, by the advice of Pope Pius V., he
married Camilla Martelli, a young lady of whom he had been
long enamoured. In 1574 he died, at the age of fifty-four
years and ten months, after a reign of thirty-seven years,
leaving three sons and one daughter besides natural children.
These sons were Francesco, his successor, who was already at
the head of the government, Cardinal Ferdinand, and Piersi,
Francesco I., born in 1541, began to govern as his father's
lieutenant in 1564, and was married in 1565 to the archduchess
Giovanna of Austria. On beginning to reign on his p^n^sc, /.
own account in 1574, he speedily manifested his real
character. His training in the hands of a Spanish mother had
made him suspicious, false and despotic. Holding every one
aloof, he carried on the government with the assistance of a few
devoted ministers. He compelled his step-mother to retire to a
convent, and kept his brothers at a distance from Florence. He
loved the privileges of power without its burdens. Cosimo had
known how to maintain his independence, but Francesco cast
3«
MEDICI (FAMILY)
himself like a vassal at Austria's feet. He reaped his reward by-
obtaining from Maximilian II. the title of grand-duke, for which
Cosimo had never been able to win the imperial sanction, but
he forfeited all independence. Towards Philip II. he showed
even greater submissiveness, supplying him with large sums of
money wrung from his overtaxed people. He held entirely
aloof from France, in order not to awake the suspicions of his
protectors. He traded on his own account, thus creating a
monopoly that was ruinous to the country. He raised the tax
upon corn to so high a rate that few continued to find any profit
in growing it , and thus the Maremme, already partly devastated
during the war with Siena, were converted into a desert. Even
industry declined under this system of government; and,
although Francesco founded porcelain manufactories and pietra
dura works, they did not rise to any prosperity until after his
death. His love of science and letters was the only Medicean
virtue that he possessed. He had an absolute passion for
chemistry, and passed much of his time in his laboratory. Some-
times indeed he gave audience to his secretaries of state standing
before a furnace, bellows in hand. He took some useful measures
to promote the rise of a new city at Leghorn, which at that time
had only a natural and ill-sheltered harbour. The improvement
of Leghorn had been first projected by Cosimo I., and was
carried on by all the succeeding Medici. Francesco was a slave
to his passions, and was led by them to scandalous excesses and
deeds of bloodshed. His example and neglect of the affairs of
the state soon caused a vast increase of crime even among the
people, and, during the first eighteen months of his reign, there
occurred no fewer than one hundred and sixty-eight murders.
In default of public events, the historians of this period enlarge
upon private incidents, generally of a scandalous or sanguinary
kind. In 1575 Orazio Pucci, wishing to avenge his father, whom
Cosimo had hanged, determined to get up a conspiracy, but,
soon recognizing how firmly the Medicean rule had taken root
in the country, desisted from the attempt. But the grand-duke,
on hearing of the already abandoned plot, immediately caused
Pucci to be hanged from the same window of the Palazzo
Vecchio, and even from the same iron stanchion, from which his
father before him had hung. His companions, who had fled
to France and England, were pursued and murdered by the ducal
emissaries. Their possessions were confiscated, and the " Pol-
verina " law applied, so that the conspirators' heirs were reduced
to penury, and the grand-duke gained more than 300,000
ducats.
Next year Isabella dei Medici, Francesco's sister, was strangled
in her nuptial bed by her husband, Paolo Giordano Orsini, whom
she had betrayed. Piero dei Medici, Francesco's brother,
murdered his wife Eleonora of Toledo from the same motive.
Still louder scandal was caused by the duke's own conduct.
He was already a married man, when, passing one day through
the Piazza of St Mark in Florence, he saw an exceedingly beautiful
woman at the window of a mean dwelling, and at once conceived
a passion for her. She was the famous Bianca Cappello, a
Venetian of noble birth, who had eloped with a young Florentine
named Pietro Buonaventuri, to whom she was married at the
time that she attracted the duke's gaze. He made her acquaint-
ance, and, in order to see her frequently, nominated her husband
to a post at court. Upon this, Buonaventuri behaved with so
much insolence, even to the nobility, that one evening he was
found murdered in the street. Thus the grand-duke, who was
thought to have sanctioned the crime, was able to indulge his
passion unchecked. On the death of the grand-duchess in 1578
he was privately united to Bianca, and afterwards married her
publicly. But she had no children, and this served to poison
her happiness, since the next in succession was her bitter enemy,
the cardinal Ferdinand. The latter came to Florence in 1587,
and was ostentatiously welcomed by Bianca, who was most
anxious to conciliate him. On the 18th of October of the same
year the grand-duke died at his villa of Poggio a Caiano, of a
fever caught on a shooting excursion in the Maremme, and the
next day Bianca also expired, having ruined her health by drugs
taken to cure her sterility. But rumour asserted that she had
prepared a poisoned tart for the cardinal, and that, when he
suspiciously insisted on the grand-duke tasting it first, Bianca
desperately swallowed a slice and followed her husband to the
tomb.
Such was the life of Francesco dei Medici, and all that can be
said in his praise is that he gave liberal encouragement to a few
artists, including de Giovanni Bologna (q.v.). He was the
founder of the Uffizi gallery, of the Medici theatre, and the villa
of Pratolino; and during his reign the Delia Cruscan academy
was instituted.
Ferdinand I. was thirty-eight years of age when, in 1587, he
succeeded his brother on the throne. A cardinal from the age
of fourteen, he had never taken holy orders. He _
showed much tact and experience in the manage-
ment of ecclesiastical affairs. He was the founder of the Villa
Medici at Rome, and the purchaser of many priceless works of
art, such as the Niobe group and many other statues afterwards
transported by him to Florence. After his accession he retained
the cardinal's purple until the time of his marriage. He was
in all respects his brother's opposite. Affable in his manners
and generous with his purse, he chose a crest typical of the
proposed mildness of his rule — a swarm of bees with the motto
Majeslate tantum. He instantly pardoned all who had opposed
him, and left his kinsmen at liberty to choose their own place
of residence. Occasionally, for political reasons, he committed
acts unworthy of his character; but he re-established the adminis-
tration of justice, and sedulously attended to the business of the
state and the welfare of his subjects. Accordingly Tuscany
revived under his rule and regained the independence and
political dignity that his brother had sacrificed to love of ease
and personal indulgence. He favoured commerce, and effectually
ensured the prosperity of Leghorn, by an edict enjoining tolera-
tion towards Jews and heretics, which led to the settlement
of many foreigners in that city. He also improved the harbour
and facilitated communication with Pisa by means of the
Naviglio, a canal into which a portion of the water of the Arno
was turned. He nevertheless retained the reprehensible custom
of trading on his own account, keeping banks in many cities
of Europe. He successfully accomplished the draining of the
Val di Chiana, cultivated the plains of Pisa, Fucecchio and
Val di Nievole, and executed other works of public utility at
Siena and Pisa. But his best energies were devoted to the
foreign policy by which he sought to emancipate himself from
subjection to Spain. On the assassination (1589) of Henry III.
of France Ferdinand supported the claims of the king of Navarre,
undeterred by the opposition of Spain and the Catholic League,
who were dismayed by the prospect of a Huguenot succeeding to
the throne of France. He lent money to Henry IV., and strongly
urged his conversion to Catholicism; he helped to persuade the
pope to accept Henry's abjuration, and pursued this policy with
marvellous persistence until his efforts were crowned with
success. Henry IV. showed faint gratitude for the benefits
conferred upon him, and paid no attention to the expostulations
of the grand-duke, who then began to slacken his relations with
France, and showed that he could guard his independence by
other alliances. He gave liberal assistance to Philip III. for
the campaign in Algiers, and to the emperor for the war with the
Turks. Hence he was compelled to burden his subjects with
enormous taxes, forgetting that while guaranteeing the inde-
pendence of Tuscany by his loans to foreign powers he was
increasingly sapping the strength of future generations.. He
at last succeeded in obtaining the formal investiture of Sietta,
which Spain had always considered a fief of her own.
During this grand-duke's reign the Tuscan navy was notably
increased, and did itself much honour on the Mediterranean.
The war-galleys of the knights of St Stephen were despatched
to the coast of Barbary to attack Bona, the headquarters of
the corsairs, and they captured the town with much dash and
bravery. In the following year (1608) the same galleys achieved
their most brilliant victory in the archipelago over the stronger
fleet of- the Turks, by taking nine of their vessels, seven hundred
prisoners, and jewels of the value of 2,000,000 ducats.
MEDICI (FAMILY)
Ferdinand I. died in 1609, leaving four sons, of whom the
eldest, Cosimo II., succeeded to the throne at the age of nineteen.
Cosimo n. ^ e was at nrst assisted in the government by his
mother and a council of regency. He had a good
disposition, and the fortune to reign during a period when
Europe was at peace and Tuscany blessed with abundant
harvests. Of his rule there is little to relate. His chief care
was given to the galleys of St Stephen, and he sent them to assist
the Druses against the Porte, On one occasion he was involved
in a quarrel with France. Concino Concini, the Marshal d'Ancre,
being assassinated in 161 7, Louis XIII. claimed the right of
transferring the property of the murdered man to De Luynes.
Cosimo, refusing to recognize the confiscation decreed by the
French tribunals, demanded that Concini's son should be allowed
to inherit. Hence followed much ill-feeling and mutual reprisals
between the two countries, finally brought to an end by the
intervention of the duke of Lorraine.
Like his predecessors, Cosimo II. studied to promote the
prosperity of Leghorn, and he deserves honour for abandoning
all commerce on his own account. But it was no praiseworthy
act to pass a law depriving women of almost all rights of inheri-
tance. By this means many daughters of the nobility were
driven into convents against their will. He gave scanty atten-
tion to the general affairs of the state. He was fond of luxury,
spent freely on public festivities and detested trouble. Tuscany
was apparently tranquil and prosperous; but the decay of
which the seeds were sown under Cosimo I. and Ferdinand I.
was rapidly spreading, and became before long patent to all and
beyond all hope of remedy. The best deed done by Cosimo II.
was the protection accorded by him to Galileo Galilei, who
had removed to Padua, and there made some of his grandest
discoveries. The grand duke recalled him to Florence in 1610,
and nominated him court mathematician and philosopher.
Cosimo died in February 1621. Feeling his end draw near,
when he was only aged thirty and all his sons were still in their
childhood, he hastened to arrange his family affairs. His
mother, Cristina of Lorraine, and his wife, Maddalena of Austria,
were nominated regents and guardians to his eldest son Ferdinand
II., a boy of ten, and a council of four appointed, whose functions
were regulated b/ law. After Cosimo's death, the young Ferdi-
nand was sent to Rome and Vienna to complete his education,
and the government of Tuscany remained in the hands of
two jealous and quarrelsome women. Thus the administration
of justice and finance speedily went to ruin. Out of sub-
missiveness to the pope, the regents did not dare to maintain
their legitimate right to inherit the duchy of Urbino. They
conferred exaggerated privileges on the new Tuscan nobility,
which became increasingly insolent and worthless. They
resumed the practice of trading on their own account, and,
without reaping much benefit thereby, did the utmost damage
to private enterprise.
In 1627 Ferdinand II., then aged seventeen, returned to Italy
and assumed the reins of government; but, being of a very gentle
Ferdinand 11. disposition, he decided on sharing his power with
the regents and his brothers, and arranged matters in
such wise that each was almost independent of the other. He
gained the love of his subjects by his great goodness; and, when
Florence and Tuscany were ravaged by the plague in 1630,
he showed admirable courage and carried out many useful
measures. But he was totally incapable of energy as a states-
man. When the pope made bitter complaints because the
board of health had dared to subject certain monks and priests
to the necessary quarantine, the grand-duke insisted on his
officers asking pardon on their knees for having done their duty.
On the death in 1631 of the last duke of Urbino, the pope was
allowed to seize the duchy without the slighest opposition on
the part of Tuscany. As a natural consequence the pretensions
of the Roman curia became increasingly exorbitant; ecclesiastics
usurped the functions of the state; and the ancient laws of the
republic, together with the regulations decreed by Cosimo I. as
a check upon similar abuses, were allowed to become obsolete.
On the extinction of the line of the Gonzagas at Mantua in 1627,
39
war broke out between France on the one side and Spain,
Germany and Savoy on the other. The grand duke, uncertain
of his policy, trimmed his sails according to events. Fortunately
peace was re-established in 1631. Mantua and Monferrato fell
to the duke of Nevers, as France had always desired. But
Europe was again in arms for the Thirty Years' War, and Italy
was not at peace. Urban VIII. wished to aggrandize his nephews,
the Barberini, by wresting Castro and Ronciglione from Odoardo
Farnese, duke of Parma and brother-in-law to Ferdinand.
Farnese marched his army through Tuscany into the territories
of the pope, who was greatly alarmed by the attack. The grand-
duke was drawn into the war to defend his own state and his
kinsman. His military operations, however, were of the feeblest
and often the most laughable character. At last, by means of the
French intervention, peace was made in 1644. But, although
the pope was forced to yield, he resigned none of his ecclesiastical
pretensions in Tuscany. It was during Ferdinand's reign that
the septuagenarian Galileo was obliged to appear before the
Inquisition in Rome, which treated him with infamous cruelty.
On the death of this great and unfortunate man, the grand-duke
wished to erect a monument to him, but was withheld by fear
of the opposition of the clergy. The dynasty as well as the
country now seemed on the brink of decay. Two of the grand-
duke's brothers had already died childless, and Ippolito, the sole
survivor, was a cardinal. The only remaining heir was his son
Cosimo, born in 1642.
Like nearly all his predecessors, Ferdinand II. gave liberal
patronage to science and letters, greatly aided therein by his
brother Leopold, who had been trained by Galileo Galilei, and
who joined with men of learning in founding the celebrated
academy Del Cimento, of which he was named president. This
academy took for its motto the words Provando e riprovando,
and followed the experimental method of Galileo. Formed in
1657, ^ was dissolved in 1667 in consequence of the jealousies
and dissensions of its members, but during its brief existence
won renown by the number and importance of its works.
Cosimo III. succeeded his father in 1670. He was weak, vain,
bigoted and hypocritical. In 1661 he had espoused Louise of
Orleans, niece of Louis XIV., who, being enamoured Cat i mo ///.
of duke Charles of Lorraine, was very reluctant to
come to Italy, and speedily detested both her husband and his
country, of which she refused to learn the language. She had
two sons and one daughter, but after the birth of her third child,
Giovan Gastone, her hatred for her husband increased almost
to madness. She first withdrew to Poggio a Caiano, and then,
being unable to get her marriage annulled, returned to France,
where, although supposed to live in conventual seclusion, she
passed the greater part of her time as a welcome visitor at court.
Even her testamentary dispositions attested the violence of her
dislike to her husband.
Cosimo's hypocritical zeal for religion compelled his subjects
to multiply services and processions that greatly infringed upon
their working hours. He wasted enormous sums in pensioning
converts — even those from other countries — and in giving rich
endowments to sanctuaries. Meanwhile funds often failed for
the payment of government clerks and soldiers. His court
was composed of bigots and parasites; he ransacked the world
for dainties for his table, adorned his palace with costly foreign
hangings, had foreign servants, and filled his gardens with exotic
plants. He purchased from the emperor the title of " Highness " in
order to be the equal of the duke of Savoy. He remained neutral
during the Franco-Spanish War, and submitted to every humilia-
tion and requisition exacted by the emperor. He had vague
notions of promoting agriculture, but accomplished no results.
At one time he caused eight hundred families to be brought over
from the Morea for the cultivation of the Maremme, where all
of them died of fever. But when, after the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes, French Huguenots offered to apply their labour
and capital to the same purpose, the grand duke's religious
scruples refused them refuge. So ruin fell upon Tuscany.
Crime and misery increased, and the poor, who only asked for
work, were given alms and sent oftener to church. This period
4°
MEDICI (FAMILY)
witnessed the rise of many charitable institutions- of a religious
character under the patronage of the grand-duke, as for instance
the congregation of San Giovanni Battista. But these could
not remedy the general decay.
Cosimo's dominant anxiety regarded the succession to the
throne. His eldest son Ferdinand died childless in 1713. The
pleasure-loving Giovan Gastone was married to Anna Maria of
Saxe-Lauenburg, widow of a German prince, a wealthy, coarse
woman wholly immersed in domestic occupations. After living
with her for some time in a Bohemian village, Giovan Gastone
yielded to his dislike to his wife and her country, withdrew to
France, and ruined his health by his excesses. After a brief
return to Bohemia he finally separated from his wife, by whom he
had no family. Thus the dynasty was doomed to extinction.
thought on ascending it was to regain strength enough to pass
the remainder of his days in enjoyment. He dismissed the spies,
parasites and bigots that had formed his father's court, abolished
the pensions given to converts, suppressed seve. al taxes, and pro-
hibited the organized espionage established in the family circle.
He wished to live and let live, and liked the people to be amused.
Everything in fact bore a freer and gayer aspect under his reign,
and the Tuscans seemed to feel renewed attachment for the
dynasty as the moment of its extinction drew near. But the
grand-duke was too feeble and incapable to accomplish any real
improvement. Surrounded by gay and dissipated young men,
he entrusted all the cares of government to a certain Giuliano
Dami, who drove a profitable trade by the sale of offices and
privileges. In this way all things were in the hands of corrupt
GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE MEDICI
Giovanni d'Averardo, known as Giovanni di Bicci, 1360-1429
= Piccarda Bueri.
Cosimo the Elder, 1389-1464 ™=Contessina de' Bardi.
Piero, 1416-1460
=Lucrezia Tornabuoni, t 1482
Giovanni, 1424-1463
= Ginevra degli Alessandri.
Lorenzo il
Magninco,
144.9-1492
=Clarice Orsini,
ti488.
I
Giuliano,
I453-J478.
Giulio (Clement
VII.), I478-I534.
Bianca
= Gugiielmo
dei Pazzi.
Nannina
= Bernardo
Rucellai.
Maria (nat.)
= Lionetto
de' Rossi.
Pietro,
1471-1503
-=Alfonsina
Orsini,
t 1520-
I
Giovanni
(Leo X.),
1475-15".
Lorenzo,
duke of
Urbino.
1492-1519
«= Madeleine
de la Tour
d'Auvergne t
t T5I9-
Clarice,
I-T528
= Fihppo
Strozzi.
Giuliano,
duke of
Nemours,
I479-I5 16
=»Philiberta
of Savoy.
Ippolito
(nat.),
cardinal,
J5II-I535-
Lucrezia
= Giacpmo
Salviati.
Maddalena
=Franceschetto
Cybo.
I I I
Giovanni Maria Elena
Salviati, =Giovanni = JacopoV.
cardinal, delle Bande Appiani.
Nere.
1
Alessandro
(nat.),
t I537-
Caterina,
1519-1589
= Henry II.,
king of
France
Contessina
= Piero
Ridolfi.
Niccolo
Ridolfi,
cardinal.
Innocenzo Cybo,
cardinal.
Lorenzo Cybo Caterina Cybo,
= Ricciarda d-tchess of
Malaspina, Camerino.
princess of
Massa.
Lorenzo, 1395-1440
— Ginevra Cavalcanti,
Pier Francesco, 1 1467
= Laudomia Acciaiuoli.
Giovanni, 1467-1498
= Caterina Sf orza Riario,
t *5Q9-
Giovanni delle Bande Nere,
1498-1526
=Maria Salviati,
t 1543-
I
COSIMO I., I5I9-I574,
= 1. Eieonora of Toledo,
t 1502.
2. Camilla Martelli.
Lorenzo,
1 1503
= Semiramide Appiani.
Pier Francesco, 1 1525
= Maria Soderini.
i r 1 1
Laudomia. Maddalena Giuliano
£ t"* = Piero = Roberto bishop of
Strozzi. Strozzi. Beziers.
*t 2
111 !
Francesco, &OO Ferdinand L,
i54i-i587 &
= 1. Joanna- g £■
of Austria,
tT 5 78;
2. Bianca
Cappello,
1 1587-
TE.-1.
1 549- 1609
= Cristina of
Lorraine,
1 1637.
Pietro,
1554-1604
— Eieonora
of Toledo,
t 1576.
Isabella,
i54*-i57<S
- Paolo
Giordano
Orsini.
i
Virginia,
= Cesare
d'Este,
duke of
Modena.
Maria,
1 1642
-Henry IV.,
king of
France.
Cosimo II.,
1500-1621
= Maria
Maddalena
of Austria,
ti6 3 i.
Caterina =
Ferdinand
Gonzaga,
duke of
Mantua.
Ferdinand II. ,
1610-1670
=Vittoria della
Rovere, 1 1694.
Francesco,
t 1634-
Mattia,
t 1667.
Leopoldo, Giovanni Anna
cardinal, Carlo, = Ferdinand
t 1675. cardinal, of Austrian
t iC63- Tyrol.
Margherita
= Odoardo
Farnese,
duke 01
Parma.
I
Claudia
= 1. Federigo
della Rovere,
hereditary ,
prince of
Urbino;
2. Leopold of
Austrian
Tyrol.
I
Vittoria
della Rovere.
Cosmo III., 1642-1723
= Marguerite Louise of Orleans, 1 1721.
I
Francesco Maria, 1660-1711 (cardinal until 1709)
=Eleonora Gonzaga.
Ferdinand, 1663-1713
«=Violante of Bavaria, f 1731.
Gtovan Gastone, 1671-1737
=Anna Maria of Saxe-Lauenburg, 1 1741.
Anna Maria Luisa, 1667-1743
= John William of the Palatinate.
Cosimo had a passing idea of reconstituting the Florentine
republic, but, this design being discountenanced by the Euro-
pean powers, he determined to transfer the succession, after
the death of Giovan Gastone, to his sister Anna Maria Louisa,
who in fact survived him. For this purpose he proposed to
annul the patent of Charles V., but the powers objected to this
arrangement also, and by the treaty of '1718 the quadruple
alliance of Germany, France, England and Holland decided that
Parma and Tuscany should descend to the Spanish Infante Don
Carlos. The grand-duke made energetic but fruitless protests.
Cosimo III. had passed his eightieth year at the time of his
decease in October 1723, and was succeeded by his son Giovan
Gastone, then aged fifty-three. The new sovereign
aastoae. was m Da< ^ health, worn out by dissipation, and had
neither ambition nor aptitude for rule. His throne
was already at the disposal of foreign powers, and his only
individuals; while the grand-duke, compelled to pass the greater
part of his time in bed, vainly sought diversion in the company
of buffoons, and was only tormented by perceiving that all the
world disposed of his throne without even asking his advice.
And when, after prolonged opposition, he had resigned himself
to accept Don Carlos as his successor, the latter led a Spanish
army to the conquest of Naples, an event afterwards leading
to the peace of 1735, by which the Tuscan succession was trans-
ferred to Francesco II., duke of Lorraine, and husband of Maria
Theresa. Giovan Gastone was finally obliged to submit even to
this. Spain withdrew her garrisons from Tuscany, and Austrian
soldiers took their place and swore fealty to the grand-duke on
the sth of February 1737. He expired on the oth of July of
the same year. Such was the end of the younger branch of the
Medici, which had found Tuscany a prosperous country, where
art, letters, commerce, industry and agriculture flourished,
MEDICI/ G^MEDICINE
41
and left her poor and decayed in all ways, drained by taxation,
and oppressed by laws contrary to every ' principle of sound
economy, downtrodden by the clergy, and burdened by a weak
and vicious aristocracy.
Bibliography. — <J. Capponi, Storia delta republica di Firenze
(Florence, 1875); F. T. Perrens, Histoire de Florence depvis jd
domination des Midicis jusqu'd la chute de la republique (Paris, 1888,
&c.) ; W. Roscoe, Life of Lorenzo de Medici (new ed., London, 1872)
and Life of Leo X. (London, 1846) ; A. von Reumont, Geschichte
Toscanas seit der Ende des florent. Freislaates (2 vols., Gotha, 1876)
and Lorenzo de' Medici (Leipzig, 1874) ; A. Fabroni, Laurentii Medicei
magnifici vita (2 vols., Pisa, 1784) and Magni Cosimi Medicei vita
(2 vols., Pisa, 1789); Buser, Lorenzo de' Medici als italienischer
Staatsmann (Leipzig, 1879) and Die Beziehungen der Mediceer zu
Frankreich (Leipzig, 1879); E. Armstrong, Lorenzo de' Medici
(London, 1896) ; P. Villari, La Storia di Girolamq Savonarola (Florence,
1887) and Machiavelli (Florence, 1878-1883, several subsequent
editions); Galluzzi, Storia del granducato di Toscana sbtto il governo
di casa Medici (5 vols., Florence, 1787); E. Robiony, Gli ultimi
Medici (Florence, 1905) ; E. L. S. Horsburgh, Lorenzo the Magnificent
and Florence in her Golden Age (1908) ; and Janet Ross, Lives of the
Medici from their Letters (1910). See also under Florence and
Tuscany. (P. V.)
MEDICI, 6IAC0M0 (1817-1882), Italian patriot and soldier,
was born at Milan in January 1817. Exiled in 1836, he fought
in Spain against the Carlists between 1836 and 1840, and in
1846 joined Garibaldi at Montevideo. Returning to Italy with
Garibaldi in 1848, he raised a company of volunteers to fight
against Austria, and commanded the volunteer vanguard in
Lombardy, proceeding thence to Rome, where. he gained dis-
tinction by defending the " Vascello," a position near the Porta
San Pancrazio, against the French. During the siege of Rome
he himself was wounded. In the wax of 1859 he commanded
a volunteer regiment, and was sent by Cavour into Tirol. In i860
he tried in vain to dissuade Garibaldi from the Marsala expedi-
tion, but, after his chief's departure, he sailed for Sicily with the
second expedition, taking part in the whole campaign, during
which he forced Messina to capitulate after an eight days' siege.
Joining the regular army, he was appointed military com-
mandant of Palermo, in which capacity he facilitated the abortive
campaign of Garibaldi in 1862. In 1866 he commanded the
division which invaded Tirol, but the effect of his victories
was neutralized by the conclusion of peace. Returning to
Palermo he did good work in restoring order in Sicily. He
became a senator in 1870, and marquis of the " Vascello " and
first aide-de-camp to the king in 1876. He died on the 9th of
March 1882.
MEDICINE. — The science of medicine, as we understand it,
has for its province the treatment of disease. The word
" medicine " (Lat. medicina: sc. ars, art of healing, from mederi,
to heal) may be used very widely, to include Pathology (q.v.),
the theory of the causation of disease, or, very narrowly, to
mean only the drug or form of remedy prescribed by the
physician — this being more properly the subject of Therapeutics
(q.v.) and Pharmacology (q.v.). But it is necessary in practice, for
historical comprehensiveness, to keep the wider meaning in view.
Disease (see Pathology) is the correlative of health, and the
word is not capable of a more penetrating definition. From
the time of Galen, however, it has been usual to speak of the
life of the body either as proceeding in accordance with nature
(Kara tpixriv, secundum naturam) or as overstepping the bounds
of nature (irapa 4>vcriv, praeter naturam). Taking disease to
be a deflexion from the line of health, the first requisite of
medicine is an extensive and intimate acquaintance with the
norm of the body. The structure and functions of the body
form the subject of Anatomy (q.v.) and Physiology (q.v.).
The medical art (ars medendi) divides itself into departments
and subdepartments. The most fundamental division is into
internal and external medicine, or into medicine proper and
surgery (q.v.). The treatment of wounds, injuries and de-
formities, with operative interference in general, is the special
department of surgical practice (the corresponding parts of
pathology, including inflammation, repair, and removable
tumours, are sometimes grouped together as surgical pathology) ;
and where the work of the profession is highly subdivided,
surgery becomes the exclusive province of the surgeon, while
internal medicine remains to the physician. A third great
department of practice is formed by obstetric medicine or
midwifery (see Obstetrics); and dentistry (q.v.), or dental
surgery, is given up to a distinct branch of the profession.
A state of war, actual or contingent, gives occasion to special
developments of medical and surgical ■ practice (military hygiene
and military surgery). Wounds caused by projectiles, sabres,
&c, are the special subject of naval and military surgery; while
under the head of military hygiene we may include the general
subject of ambulances, the sanitary arrangements of camps,
and the various forms of epidemic camp sickness.
The administration of the civil and criminal law involves
frequent relations with medicine, and the professional subjects
most likely to arise in that connexion, together with a summary
of causes cSlebres, are formed into the department of Medical
Jurisprudence (q.v.).
In preserving the public health, the medical profession is
again brought into direct relation with the state, through the
public medical officers.
History of Medicine
Medicine as Portrayed in the Homeric Poems. — In the state
of society pictured by Homer it is clear that medicine has already
had. a history. We find a distinct and organized profession; we
find a system of treatment, especially in regard to injuries,
which it must have been the work of long experience to frame;
we meet with a nomenclature of parts of the body substantially
the same (according to Daremberg) as that employed long
afterwards in the writings of Hippocrates; in short, we find a
science and an organization which, however imperfect as com-
pared with those of later times, are yet very far from being in
their beginning. The Homeric heroes themselves are repre-
sented as having considerable skill in surgery, and as able to
attend to ordinary wounds and injuries, but there is also a
professional class, represented by Machaon and Podalirius, the
two sons of Asclepius, who are treated with great respect. It
Would appear, too, from the Aethiopis of Archinus (quoted by
Welcker and Haser) that the duties of these two were not
precisely the same. Machaon's task was more especially to
heal injuries, while Podalirius had received from his father the
gift of " recognizing what was not visible to the eye, and tending
what could not be healed." In other words, a rough in-r
dication is seen of the separation of medicine and surgery.
Asclepius appears in Homer as a Thessalian king, not as a god,
though in later times divine honours were paid to him. There
is no sign in the Homeric poems of the subordination of medicine
to religion which is seen in ancient Egypt and India, nor are
priests charged, as they were in those countries, with medical
functions — all circumstances which throw grave doubts on the
commonly received opinion that medicine derived its origin
in all countries from religious observances.
Although the actual organization of medicine among the Homeric
Greeks was thus quite distinct from religion, the worship of Asclepius
(or Aesculapius) as the god of healing demands sortie notice. This
cult spread very widely among the Greeks; it had great civil im-
portance, and lasted even into Christian times; but there is no reason
to attribute to it any special connexion with the development of
the science or profession of medicine. Sick persons repaired, or
Were conveyed, to the temples of Asclepius in order to be healed,
just as in modern times relief is sought by a devotional pilgrimage
or from the waters of some sacred spring, and then as now the healing
influence was sometimes sought by deputy. The sick person, or his
representative, after ablution, prayer and sacrifice, was rh^de to
sleep on the hide of the sacrificed animal, or at the feet of the statue
of the god, while sacred rites were performed. In his sleep (incubatio,
ijKoljxiiais) the appropriate remedy was indicated by a dream.
Moral or dietetic remedies were more often prescribed than drugs.
The record of the cure was inscribed on the columns or walls of the
temple; and it has been thought that in this way was introduced
the custom of "recording cases," and that the physicians of the
Hippocratic school thus learnt to accumulate clinical experience.
But the priests of Asclepius were not physicians. Although the
latter were often called Asclepiads, this was in the first place to
indicate- their real or supposed descent from Asclepius, and in the
second place' as a complimentary title. No medical writing of
antiquity speaks of the worship of Asclepius in such a way 1 as to'
43
MEDICINE
[HISTORY
imply any connexion with the ordinary art of healing. The two
systems appear to have existed side by side, but to have been distinct,
and if they were ever united it must have been before the times of
which we have any record. The theory of a development of Greek
medicine from the rites of Asclepius, though defended by eminent
names, must accordingly be rejected.
Development of Medicine in Greece. — It is only from non-
medical writers that anything is known of the development of
medicine in Greece before the age of Hippocrates. The elaborate
collections made by Daremberg of medical notices in the poets
and historians illustrate the relations of the profession to society,
but do little to prepare us for the Hippocratic period. Nor is
much importance to be attached to the influence of the philo-
sophical sects on medicine except as regards the school of
Pythagoras. That philosopher and several of his successors
were physicians, but we do not know in what relation they stood
to later medical schools. We must therefore hasten onward to
the age of Pericles, in which Hippocrates, already called " the
Great," was in medicine as complete a representative of the
highest efforts of the Greek intellect as were his contemporaries
the great philosophers, orators and tragedians. The medical
art as we now practise it, the character of the physician as we
now understand it, both date for us from Hippocrates. The
justification of this statement is found in the literary collection
of writings known by his name. Of these certainly many are
falsely ascribed to the historical Hippocrates of Cos; others are
almost as certainly rightly so ascribed; others again are clearly
works of his school, whether from his hand or not. But which
are to be regarded as the " genuine works " is still uncertain,
and authorities are conflicting. There are clearly two schools
represented in the collection — -that of Cnidus in a small pro-
portion, and that of Cos in far the larger number of the works. The
latter was that to which Hippocrates belonged, and where he
gave instruction; and accordingly it may be taken that works
of this school, when not obviously of a different date, are
Hippocratic in doctrine if not in actual authorship.
Hippocratic Medicine. — The first grand characteristic of Hippo-
cratic medicine is the high conception of the duties and status of
the physician, shown in the celebrated " Oath of Hippocrates " and
elsewhere — equally free from the mysticism of a priesthood and
the vulgar pretensions of a mercenary craft. So matured a pro-
fessional sentiment may perhaps have been more the growth of time
and organization than the work of an individual genius, but certainly
corresponds with the character universally attributed to Hippocrates
himself. The second great quality is the singular artistic skill and
balance with which the Hippocratic physician used such materials
and tools as he possessed. Here we recognize the true Greek ooxfrpooiivT).
But this artistic completeness was closely connected with the third
cardinal virtue of Hippocratic medicine— the clear recognition of
disease as being equally with life a process governed by what we
should now call natural laws, which could be known by observation,
and which indicated the spontaneous and normal direction of
recovery, by following which alone could the physician succeed. In
the fourth place, these views of the " natural history of disease "
(in modern language) led to habits of minute observation and accu-
rate interpretation of symptoms, in which the Hippocratic school
was unrivalled in antiquity, and has been the model for all succeeding
ages, so that even in these days, with our enormous advances in
knowledge, the true method of clinical medicine may be said to be
the method of Hippocrates.
The actual science of the Hippocratic school was of course very
limited. In anatomy and physiology little advance had been made,
and so of pathology in the sense of an explanation of morbid processes
or knowledge of diseased structures there could be very little. The
most valuable intellectual possession was a large mass of recorded
observations in individual cases and epidemics of disease. Whether
these observations were systematic or individual, and how they were
recorded, are points of which we are quite ignorant, as the theory
that the votive tablets in the temples supplied such materials must
be abandoned.
Though the Hippocratic medicine was so largely founded on
observation, it would be an error to suppose that dogma or theory
had no place. The dominating theory of disease was the humoral,
which has never since ceased to influence medical thought and
practice. According to this celebrated theory, the body contains
four humours— blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, a right
proportion and mixture of which constitute health; improper
proportions or irregular distribution, disease. It is doubtful whether
the treatise in which this theory is fully expounded (irtpl <j>imot
AjiBpiyxov) is as old as Hippocrates himself; but it was regarded as
a Hippocratic doctrine, and, when taken up and expanded by Galen,
its terms not only became the common property of the profession,
but passed into general literature and common language. Another
Hippocratic doctrine, the influence of which is not even yet exhausted,
is that of the healing power of nature. Not that Hippocrates taught,
as he was afterwards reproached with teaching, that nature is
sufficient for the cure of diseases; for he held strongly the efficacy
of art. But he recognized, at least in acute diseases, a natural
process which the humours went through — being first of all crude,
then passing through coction or digestion, and finally being expelled
by resolution or crisis through one of the natural channels of the
body. The duty of the physician was to foresee these changes,
" to assist or not to hinder them," so that " the sick man might
conquer the disease with the help of the physician." The times at
which crises were to be expected were naturally looked for with
anxiety; and it was a cardinal point in the Hippocratic system to
foretell them with precision. Hippocrates, influenced as is thought
by the Pythagorean doctrines of number, taught that they were to
be expected en days fixed by certain numerical rules, in some cases
on odd, in others on even numbers — the celebrated doctrine of
" critical days." This false precision can have had no practical
value, but may have enforced habits of minute observation. It
follows from what has been said that prognosis, or the art of fore-
telling the course and event of the disease, was a strong point with
the Hippocratic physicians. In this they have perhaps never been
excelled. Diagnosis, or recognition of the disease, must have
been necessarily imperfect, when no scientific nosology or system
of disease existed, and the knowledge of anatomy was quite in-
adequate to allow of a precise determination of the seat of disease ;
but symptoms were no doubt observed and interpreted skilfully.
The pulse is not spoken of in any of the works now 1 attributed to
Hippocrates himself, though it is mentioned in other works of the
collection.
In the treatment of disease, the Hippocratic school attached great
importance to diet, the variations necessary in different diseases
being minutely defined. Medicines were regarded as of secondary
importance, but not neglected, two hundred and sixty-five drugs
being mentioned at different places in the Hippocratic works.
Blood-letting was known, but not greatly practised. The highest
importance was attached to applying all remedies at the right
moment, and the general principle enforced of making all influences
— internal and external — co-operate for the relief of the patient.
The principles of treatment just mentioned apply more especially
to the cure of acute diseases ; but they are the most salient character-
istics of the Hippocratic school. In chronic cases diet, exercise and
natural methods were chiefly relied upon.
The school of Cnidus, as distinguished from that of Cos, of which
Hippocrates is the representative, appears to have differed in attach-
ing more importance to the differences of special diseases, and to
have made more use of drugs. A treatise on the diseases of women,
contained in the Hippocratic collection, and of remarkable practical
value, is attributed to this school.
The above sketch of Hippocratic medicine will make it less
necessary to dwell upon the details relating to subsequent medical
schools or sects in ancient times. The general conception of the
physician's aim and task remained the same, though, as knowledge
increased, there was much divergence both in theory and practice —
even opposing schools were found to be developing some part of the
Hippocratic system. Direct opponents or repudiators of the autho-
rity of Hippocrates were rare, all generally appealing to his authority.
But, insensibly, the least valuable part of the Hippocratic work,
the theory, was made permanent ; the most valuable, the practical,
neglected.
Post-Hippocratic Medicine. — After Hippocrates the progress of
medicine in Greece does not call for any special remark in such a
sketch as this, but mention must be made of one great name. Though
none of Aristotle's writings are strictly medical, he has by his
researches in anatomy and physiology contributed greatly to the
progress of medicine. It should also be remembered that he was
of an Asclepiad family, and received that partly medical education
which was traditional in such families, and also himself is said to
have practised medicine as an amateur. Moreover, his works on
natural history doubtless furthered the progress among the Greeks
of sciences tributary to medicine, though the only specimens of
such works which have come down to us from the Peripatetic
school are those of Theophrastus, who may be considered the
founder of the scientific study of botany. Among his encyclopaedic
writings were some on medical subjects, of which fragments only
have been preserved. The Peripatetic school may have been mo**,
favourable to the development of medicine, as of other departments
of natural knowledge, than any other; but there is no evidence that
any of the philosophical schools had important influence on the
progress of medicine. The fruit of Aristotle's teaching and example
was seen later on in the schools of Alexandria.
The century after the death of Hippocrates is a time almost blank
in medical annals. It is probable that the science, like others,
shared in the general intellectual decline of Greece after the Mace-
donian supremacy; but the works of physicians of the period are
almost entirely lost, and were so even in the time of Galen. Galen
classes them all as of the dogmatic school ; but, whatever may have
been their characteristics, they are of no importance in the history
of the science.
HISTORY]
MEDICINE
43
Alexandrian School of Medicine. — The dispersion of Greek
science and intellectual activity through the world by the
conquests of Alexander and his successors led to the formation
of more than 'one learned centre, in which medicine among other
sciences was represented. Pergamum was early distinguished
for its medical school; but in this as in other respects its repu-
tation was ultimately effaced by the more brilliant fame of
Alexandria. It is here that the real continuation and develop-
ment of Hippocratic medicine can be traced.
In one department the Alexandrian school rapidly surpassed
its Greek original — namely, in the study of anatomy. The
dissection of the human body, of which some doubtful traces or
hints only are found in Greek times, was assiduously carried out,
being favoured or even suggested perhaps by the Egyptian
custom of disembowelling and embalming the bodies of the
dead. There is no doubt that the organs were also examined
by opening the bodies of living persons — criminals condemned
to death being given over to the anatomists for this purpose.
Two eminent names stand in the first rank as leaders of the
two earliest schools of medicine which arose in Alexandria,
Herophilus and Erasistratus.
Herophilus (335-280 B.C.) was a Greek of Chalcedon, a pupil of the
schools both of Cos and of Cnidus. He was especially noted for
his profound researches in anatomy (see i. 802), and in the know-
ledge and practice of medicine he appears to have been equally
renowned. He professed himself a close adherent of Hippocrates,
and adopted his theory of the humours. He also made extensive
use of drugs and of bleeding. The reputation of Herophilus is
attested by the fact that four considerable physicians wrote works
about him and his writings, and he is further spoken of with
the highest respect by Galen and Celsus. By the general voice
of the medical world of antiquity he was placed only second to
Hippocrates.
Erasistratus (d. 280 B.C.) was the contemporary and rival of
Herophilus. Little is known of his life, except that he spent some
time at the court of Seleucus Nicator at Antioch before coming to
Alexandria, and that he cultivated anatomy late in life, after he
had taken up his abode in the latter city. His numerous works
are also almost entirely lost, fragments only being preserved by
Galen and others. Erasistratus, instead of following Hippocrates
as Herophilus did, depreciated him, and seems to have been rather
aggressive and independent in his views. He appears to have leaned
to mechanical explanations of the symptoms of disease, as was
especially the case with inflammation, of which he gave the first
rational, though necessarily inadequate, theory.
The two schools composed of the followers of Herophilus and
Erasistratus respectively long divided between them the medical
world of Alexandria. The names of many prominent members of
both sects have been preserved, but it would be useless to repeat
them. The Herophilists still reverenced the memory of Hippocrates,
and wrote numerous commentaries on his works. They produced
many eminent anatomists, but in the end seem to have become lost
in theoretical subtleties, and to have maintained too high a standard
of literary cultivation. The school of Erasistratus was less distin-
guished in anatomy than that of Herophilus, but paid more attention
to the special symptoms of diseases, and employed a great variety
of drugs. It was longer-lived than that of Herophilus, for it still
numbered many adherents in the 2nd century after Christ, a century
after the latter had become extinct.
The Erasistrateans paved the way for what was in some respects
the most important school which Alexandria produced, that known
as the empiric, which, though it recognized no master by name, may
be considered to have been founded by Phillnus of Cos (280 B.C.), a
pupil of Herophilus; but Serapion, a great name in antiqwity, and
Glaucias of Tarentum, who traced the empirical doctrine back to
the writings of Hippocrates, are also named among its founders.
The most striking peculiarity of the empirics was that they rejected
anatomy, regarding it as useless to inquire into the causes of things,
and thus, as they contended, being the more minute in their observa-
tion of the actual phenomena of disease. They professed that their
whole practice was based upon experience, to which word they gave
a special meaning. Three sources, and three only, could experience
draw from: observation, history (i.e. recorded observation), and
judgment by analogy. These three bases of knowledge were known
as the " tripod " of the empirics. It should not, however, be for-
gotten that the empirics read and industriously commented on the
works of Hippocrates. They were extremely successful in practical
matters, especially in surgery and in the use of drugs, and a large
part of the routine knowledge of diseases and remedies which became
traditional in the times of the Roman empire is believed to have
been derived from them. In the 2nd century the school became
closely connected with the philosophical sect of the Sceptics, whose
leader, Sextus (200 B.C.), was an empirical physician. It lived and
flourished far beyond this time, when transplanted to Rome, not
less than in its native Alexandria, and appears to be recognizable
even up to the beginning of the middle ages.
If we look at the work of the Alexandrian schools in medicine
as a whole, we must admit that the progress made was great
and permanent. The greatest service rendered to medicine
was undoubtedly the systematic study of anatomy. It is clear
that the knowledge of function (physiology) did not by any
means keep pace with the knowledge of structure, and this
was probably the reason why the important sect of the empirics
were able entirely to dispense with anatomical knowledge. The
doctrines of Hippocrates, though lightly thought of by the
Erasistrateans, still were no doubt very widely accepted, but
the practice of the Hippocratic school had been greatly improved
in almost every department — surgery and obstetrics being
probably those in which the Alexandrian practitioners could
compare most favourably with those of modern times. We
have now to trace the fortunes of this body of medical doctrine
and practice when transplanted to Rome, and ultimately to
the whole Roman world.
Roman Medicine. — The Romans cannot be said to have at
any time originated or possessed an independent school of
medicine. They had from early times a very complicated
system of superstitious medicine, or religion, related to disease
and the cure of disease, borrowed, as is thought, from the
Etruscans; and, though the saying of Pliny that the Roman
people got on for six • hundred years without doctors was
doubtless an exaggeration, and not, literally speaking, exact,
it must be accepted for the broad truth which it contains.
When a medical profession appears, it is, so far as we are able
to trace it, as an importation from Greece.
The first Greek physician whose name is preserved as having
migrated to Rome was Archagathus, who came over from the
Peloponnesus in 218 B.C.; but there were probably others before
him. When Greece was made a Roman province, the number of
such physicians who sought their fortunes in Rome must have been
very large. The bitter words of M. Porcius Cato, who disliked them
as he did other representatives of Greek culture, are evidence of
this. The most eminent of these earlier Greek physicians at Rome
was Asclepiades, the friend of Cicero (born 124 B.C. at Prusa in
Bithynia). He came to Rome as a young man, and soon became
distinguished both for his medical skill and his oratorical power.
He introduced a system which, so far as we know, was his own,
though founded upon the Epicurean philosophical creed; on the
practical side it conformed pretty closely to the Stoic rule of life,
thus adapting itself to the leanings of the better stamp of Romans
in the later times of the republic. According to Asclepiades all
diseases depended upon alterations in the size, number, arrangement
or movement of the " atoms," of which, according to the doctrine
of Epicurus, the body consisted. These atoms were united into
passages (iropoi) through which the juices of the body were conveyed.
This doctrine, of which the developments need not further be followed,
was important chiefly in so far that it was perfectly distinct from,
and opposed to, the humoral pathology of Hippocrates. In the
treatment of disease Asclepiades attached most importance to diet,
exercise, passive movements or frict : ons, and the external use of cold
water — in short, to a modified athletic training. He rejected the
vis medicatrix naturae, pointing out that nature in many cases not
only did not help but marred the cure. His knowledge of disease
and surgical skill were, as appears from the accounts given by
Celsus and Caelius Aurelianus, very considerable. Asclepiades had
many pupils who adhered more or less closely to his doctrines, but
it was especially one of them, Themison, who gave permanence to
the teachings of his master by framing out of them, with some
modifications, a new system of medical doctrine, and, founding on
this basis a school which lasted for some centuries in successful
rivalry with the Hippocratic tradition, which, as we have seen, was
up to that time the prevailing influence in medicine.
This system was known as methodism, its adherents as the
methodici or methodists. Its main principles were that-Tt was
useless to consider "the causes of a disease, or even the organ affected
by the disease, and that it was sufficient to know what was common
to all diseases, viz. their common qualities (communitates, koiv6ti)tcs).
Of these there were three possible forms — (1) relaxation, (2) con-
traction of the minute passages or xopoi, and (3) a mixed state, partly
lax, partly constricted. The signs of these morbid states were to
be found in the general constitution of the body, especially ' in the
excretions. Besides this it was important only to consider whether
the disease was acute or chronic, whether it was increasing, declining
or stationary. Treatment of disease was directed not to any special
organ, nor to producing the crises and critical discharges of the
Hippocratic school, but to correcting the morbid common condition
or " community," relaxing the body if it was constricted, causing
44
MEDICINE
[HISTORY
contraction if it was too lax, and in the " mixed state " acting accord-
ing to the predominant condition. This simple rule of treatment
was the system or " method " from which the school took its name.
The methodists agreed with the empirics in one point', in their
contempt for anatomy; but, strictly speaking, they were dogmatists,
though with a dogma different from that of the Hippocratic school.
Besides Themison, its systematic founder, the school boasted many
physicians eminent in their day, among whom Thessalus of Tralles,
a half-educated and boastful pretender, was one of the most popular
He reversed the Hippocratic maxim " art is long," promising his
scholars to teach them the whole of medicine in six months, and had
inscribed upon his tomb JarpociKijs, as being superior to all living
and bygone physicians.
In the 2nd century a much greater name appears among the
methodists, that of Soranus of Ephesus, a physician mentioned with
praise even by Tertullian and Augustine, who practised at Rome
in the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. Soranus is known by a work,
still extant in the Greek original, on the diseases of women, and also
by the Latin work of Caelius Aurelianus, three centuries later, on
acute and chronic diseases, which is based upon, if not, as some think,
an actual translation of, the chief work of Soranus, and which is the
principal source of our knowledge of the methodic school. The
work on diseases of women is the only Complete work on that subject
which has come down to us from antiquity, and shows remarkable
fullness of practical knowledge in relation to its subject. It is
notable that an important instrument of research, the speculum,
which has been reinvented in modern times, was used by Soranus;
and specimens of still earlier date, showing great mechanical perfec-
tion, have been found among the ruins of Pompeii. The work on
acute and chronic diseases is also full of practical knowledge, but
penetrated with the theories of the methodists.
The methodic school lasted certainly for some centuries, and
influenced the revival of medical science in the middle ages, though
overshadowed by the greater reputation of Galen. It was the first
definite product of Greek medicine on Roman soil, but was destined
to be followed by others, which kept up" a more or less successful
rivalry with it, and with the Hippocratic tradition.
The so-called pneumatic school was founded by Athenaeus, in the
1st century after Christ. According to its doctrines the normal
as well as diseased actions of the body were to be referred to the
operation of the pneuma or universal soul. This doctrine, crudely
transferred from philosophical speculation, was intended to reconcile
the humoral (or Hippocratic) and solidist (or methodic) schools;
but the methodists seem to have claimed Athenaeus as one of
themselves.
The conflicts of the opposing schools, and the obvious deficiencies
of each, led many physicians to try and combine the valuable parts
of each system, and to call themselves eclectics. Among these were
found many of the most eminent physicians of Graeco- Roman times.
It may be sufficient to name Rufus or Ephesus (2nd century A.D.),
and Archigenes {fi. a.d. 90), who is mentioned by Juvenal.
Although no system or important doctrine of medicine was
originated by the Roman intellect, and though the practice of
the profession was probably almost entirely in the hands of the
Greeks, the most complete picture which we have of medical
thought and activity in Roman times is due to a Latin pen,
and to one who was, in all probability, not a physician.
A. Cornelius Celsus, a Roman patrician, who lived probably in
the 1st century, appears to have studied medicine as a branch
of general knowledge. Whether he was a practising physician or
not has been a matter of controversy. The conclusion supported
by most evidence seems to be that he practised on his friends
and dependants, but not as a remunerative profession. His
well-known work, De medicina, was one of a series of treatises
intended to embrace all knowledge proper for a man of the world.
It was not meant for the physicians, and was certainly little
read by them, as Celsus is quoted by no medical writer, and
when referred to by Pliny, is spoken of as an author not a
physician. There is no doubt that his work is chiefly a com-
pilation; and Daremberg, with other scholars, has traced a
large number of passages of the Latin text to the Greek originals
from which they were translated. In the description of surgical
operations the vagueness of the language seems sometimes to
show that the author had not performed such himself; but in
other parts, and especially in his historical introduction, he
speaks with more confidence; and everywhere he compares
and criticizes with learning and judgment. The whole body of
medical literature belonging to the Hippocratic and Alexandrian
times is ably summarized, and a knowledge of the state of
medical science up to and during the times of the author is
thus conveyed to us which can be obtained from no other source.
The work of Celsus is thus for us only second in importance to
the Hippocratic writings and the works of Galen; but it is
valuable rather as a part of the history of medicine than as the
subject of that history. It forms no link in the general chain
of medical tradition, for the simple reason that the influence
of Celsus (putting aside a few scanty allusions in medieval
times) commenced in the 15th century, when his works were
first discovered in manuscript or committed to the press. Since
then, however, he has been almost up to our own times the most
popular and widely read of all medical classics, partly for the
qualities already indicated, partly because he was one of the
few of those classics accessible to readers of Latin, and partly
also because of the purity and classical perfection of his language.
Of Pliny, another encyclopaedic writer, a few words must be
said, though he was not a physician. In his Natural History
we find as complete a summary of the popular medicine of his
time as Celsus gives of the scientific medicine. Pliny disliked
doctors, and lost no opportunity of depreciating regular medicine;
nevertheless he has left many quotations from, and many details
about, medical authors which are of the highest value. He is
useful to us for what he wrote about the history of medicine,
not for what he contributed. Like Celsus, he had little influence
on succeeding medical literature or practice.
We now come to the writer who, above all others, gathered
up into himself the divergent and scattered threads of ancient
medicine, and out of whom again the greater part of modern
European medicine has flowed. Galen was a man furnished
with all the anatomical, medical and philosophical knowledge
of his time; he had studied all kinds of natural curiosities, and
had stood in near relation to important political events; he
possessed' enormous industry, great practical sagacity and
unbounded literary fluency. He had, in fact, every quality
necessary for an encyclopaedic writer, or even for a literary and
professional autocrat. He found the medical profession of his
time split up into a number of sects, medical science confounded
under a multitude of dogmatic systems, the social status and
moral integrity of physicians degraded. He appears to have
made it his object to reform these evils, to reconcile scientific
acquirements and practical skill, to bring back the unity of
medicine as jt had been understood by Hippocrates, and at the
same time to raise the dignity of medical practitioners.
Galen was as devoted to anatomical and, so far as then understood,
physiological research as to practical medicine. He worked enthusi-
astically at dissection, though, the liberty of the Alexandrian schools
no longer existing, he could dissect only animals, not the human
body. In his anatomical studies Galen had a twofold object — a
philosophical, to show the wisdom of the Creator in making every-
thing fit to serve its purpose; and a practical, to aid the diagnosis,
or recognition, of disease. The first led him into a teleological
system so minute and. overstrained as to defeat its own end ; the
second was successfully attained by giving greater precision and
certainty to medical and surgical practice in difficult: cases. His
general physiology was essentially founded upon the Hippocratic
theory of the four elements, with which he combined the notion of
spirit (pneuma) penetrating all parts, and mingled with the humours
in different proportions. It was on this field that he most vehe-
mently attacked the prevailing atomistic and materialistic views
of the methodic school, and his conception of the pneuma became
in some respects half metaphysical. His own researches in special
branches of physiology were important, but do not strictly belong
to our present subject.
The application of physiology to the explanation of diseases, and
thus to practice, was chiefly by the theory of the temperaments or
mixtures which Galen founded upon the Hippocratic doctrine of
humours, but developed with marvellous and fatal ingenuity. The
normal condition or temperament of the body depended upon a
proper mixture or proportion of the four elements — hot, cold, wej:
and dry. From faulty proportions of the same arose the intemperies-
(" distempers "), which, though not diseases, were the occasions
of disease. Equal importance attached to faulty mixtures or
dyscrasiae of the blood. By a combination of these morbid pre-
dispositions with the action of deleterious influences from without
all diseases were produced. Galen showed extreme ingenuity in
explaining all symptoms and all diseases on his system. No pheno-
menon was without a name, no problem without a solution. And,
though it was precisely in his fine-spun subtlety that he departed
furthest from scientific method and practical utility, it was this very
quality which seems in the end to have secured his popularity and
established his pre-eminence in the medical world.
Galen's use of drugs was influenced largely by the same theories.
In drugs were to be recognized the same elementary qualities — hot.
HISTORY]
MEDICINE
45
cold, moist, dry, &c. — as in the human body; and, on the principle
of curing by contraries, the use of one or other was indicated. The
writings of Galen contain less of simple objective observations than
those of several other ancient physicians, all being swept into the
current of dogmatic exposition. But there is enough to show the
thoroughness and extent of his practical knowledge. Unfortunately
it was neither this nor his zeal for research that chiefly won him
followers, but the completeness of his theoretical explanations,
which fell in with the mental habits of succeeding centuries, and
were such as have flattered the intellectual indolence of all ages.
But the reputation of Galen grew slowly; he does not appear to have
enjoyed any pre-eminence over other physicians of his time, to most
of whom he was strongly opposed in opinion. In the next generation
he beganto be esteemed only as a philosopher; gradually his system
was implicitly accepted, and it enjoyed a great though not exclusive
predominance till the fall of Roman civilization. When the
Arabs possessed themselves of the scattered remains of Greek
culture, the works of Galen were more highly esteemed than any
others except those of Aristotle. Through the Arabs the Galenical
system found its way back again to western Europe. Even when
Arabian medicine gave way before the direct teaching of the Greek
authors rescued from neglect, the authority of Galen was increased
instead of being diminished ; and he assumed a position of autocracy
in medical science which was only slowly undermined by the growth
of modern science in the 17th and 1 8th centuries.
The history of medicine in Roman times is by no means the
same thing as the history of the fate of the works of Galen. For
some centuries the methodic school was popular at Rome, and
produced one physician, Caelius Aurelianus, who must be pro-
nounced, next to Celsus, the most considerable of the Latin
medical writers. His date was in all probability the end of the
4th or the beginning of the 5th century. The works bearing
his name are, as has been said, entirely based upon the Greek
of Soranus, but are important both because their Greek originals
are lost, and because they are evidence of the state of medical
practice in his own time. The popularity of Caelius is evidenced
by the fact that in the 6th century an abridgment of his larger
work was recommended by Cassiodorus to the Benedictine monks
for the study of medicine.
Before quitting this period the name of Aretaeus of Cappadocia
must be mentioned. So little is known about him that even
his date cannot be fixed more closely than as being between
the second half of the 1st century and the beginning of the 3rd.
His works have been much admired for the purity of the Greek
style, and his accurate descriptions of disease; but, as he quotes
no medical author,. and is quoted by none before Alexander of
Aphrodisias at the beginning of the 3rd century, it is clear that
he belonged to no school and founded none, and thus his position
in the chain of medical tradition is quite uncertain. Alexander
of Aphrodisias, who lived and wrote at Athens in the time of
Septimius Severus, is best known by his commentaries on
Aristotle, but also wrote a treatise on fevers, still extant.
Ancient Medicine after Galen. — The Byzantine school of medicine,
which closely corresponds to the Byzantine literary and historical
schools, followed closely in Galen's footsteps, and its writers were
chiefly compilers and encyclopaedists. The earliest is Oribasius
(326-403), whose date and position are fixed by his being the friend
and court physician of Julian the Apostate. Be was a Greek of
Pergamum, educated in Alexandria, and long resident in Byzantium.
His great work 'Swayatyal lorputot, of which only about one-third
has been preserved, was a medical encyclopaedia founded on extracts
from Hippocrates, Galen, Dioscorides (fl. A.D. 50) and certain
Greek writers who are otherwise very imperfectly known. The
work is thus one of great historical value but of no originality.
The next name which requires to be mentioned is that of Aetius
(a.d. 550), a compiler who closely followed Oribasius, but with
inferior powers, and whose work also has an historical but no original
value. A higher rank among medical writers is assigned to Alexander
of Tralles (525-605), whose doctrine was that of an eclectic. His
practical and therapeutical rules are evidently the fruit of his own
experience, though it would be difficult to attribute to him any
decided advance in medical knowledge. But the most prominent
figure in Byzantine medicine is that of Paul of Aegina (Paulus
Aegineta), who lived probably in the early part of the 7th century.
His skill, especially in surgery, must have been considerable, and
his 'larpuca gives a very complete picture of the achievements of
the Greeks in this department. Another work, on obstetrics, now
lost, was equally famous, and procured for him, among the Arabs,
the name of " the Obstetrician.'' His reputation lasted through
the middle ages, and was not less in the Arabian schools than in the
West. In this respect Paulus is a most important influence in the
development of medicine. His great work on surgery was early
translated into Arabic, and became the foundation of the surgery
of Abulcasis, which in turn (to anticipate) was one of the chief
sources of surgical knowledge to Europe in the middle ages. The
succeeding period of Byzantine history was so little favourable to
science that no name worthy of note occurs again (though many
medical works of this period are still extant) till the 13th century,
when we meet with a group of writers. Demetrius Pepagomenus,
Nicolaus Myrepsus and Johannes, called Actuarius, who flourished
under the protection of the Palaeologi. The work of the last has
some independent merit ; but all are interesting as showing a fusion
of Greek and Arabian medicine, the latter having begun to exercise
even in the nth century a reflex influence on the schools of By-
zantium. Something was borrowed even from the school of Salerno,
and thus the close of Byzantine medicine is brought into connexion
with the dawn of science in modern Europe.
In the West the period after Galen affords little evidence of any-
thing but a gradual though unvarying decline in Roman medicine.
Caelius Aurelianus, already referred to as the follower of Soranus,
must be mentioned as showing the persistence of the methodic
school. An abridgment of one of his writings, with the title of
Aurelius, became the most popular of all Latin medical works. As
a writer he was worthy of a better period of medical literature.
Little else was produced in these times but compilations, of the most
meagre kind, chiefly of the nature of herbals, or domestic receipt-
books; among the authors of which it may be sufficient to name
Serenus Sammonicus (3rd century), Gargilius Martialis (3rd century)
and Marcellus Empiricus (5th century). Certain compilations still
extant bear the falsely-assumed names of eminent writers, such as
Pliny and Hippocrates. A writer with the (perhaps assumed) name
of Apuleius Platonicus produced a herbal which held its ground
till the 15th century at least, and was in the 9th translated into
Anglo-Saxon. These poor compilations, together with Latin
translations of certain works of Galen and Hippocrates, formed 3
medical literature, meagre and unprogressive indeed, but of which
a great part survived through the middle ages till the discovery of
printing and revival of learning. It is important to remember that
this obscure stream of tradition flowed on, only partially affected
by the influx of Arabian, or even the early revival of purer classical
learning.
Arabian Medicine. — The rise of the Mahommedan Empire,
which influenced Europe so deeply both politically and intel-
lectually, made its mark also in the history of medicine. As in
the parallel case of the Roman conquest of Greece, the superior
culture of the conquered race asserted its supremacy over their
Arab conquerors. After the Mahommedan conquests became
consolidated, and learning began to flourish, schools of medicine,
often connected with hospitals and schools of pharmacy, arose
in all the chief seats of Moslem power. At Damascus Greek
medicine was zealously cultivated with the aid of Jewish and
Christian teachers. In Bagdad, under the rule of Harun el
Rashid and his successors, a still more flourishing school arose,
where numerous translations of Greek medical works were made.
The names of Mesua, or Yahya ibn Masawaih (d. a.d. 857-858),
celebrated for his knowledge of drugs, and Honein ibn Ishaq el
'Ibadi (d. 873) or Joannitius, the translator and commentator of
Hippocrates and Galen, belong to this period. Certain writings
of Joannitius, translated into Latin, were popular in the middle
ages in Europe, and were printed in the 16th century. At the
same time the Arabs became acquainted with Indian medicine,
and Indian physicians lived at the court of Bagdad. The
Islamite rulers in Spain were not long behind those of the
East in encouraging learning and medical science, and developed
culture to a still higher degree of perfection. In that country
much was due to the Jews, who had already established schools
in places which were afterwards the seats of Moslem dominion,
From the 10th to the 13th century was the brilliant period of
Arabian medicine in Spain. 1
The classical period of Arabian medicine begins with Rhazes^ (Abu
Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya el-Razi, a.d. 925-^26), a naftas of
Rai in the province of Dailam (Persia), who practised with distinc-
tion at Bagdad ; he followed the doctrines of Galen, but learnt much
from Hippocrates. He was the first of the Arabs to treat medicine
in a comprehensive and encyclopaedic manner, surpassing probably
in voluminousness Galen himself, though but a small proportion
of his works are extant. Rhazes is deservedly remembered as having
first described small-pox and measles in an accurate manner. Hah,
i.e. 'Ali ibn el-'Abbas, a Persian, wrote a medical textbook,
known as the " Royal Book," which was the standard authority
among the Arabs up to the time of Avicenna (a.d. 980-1037) and
was more than once translated into Latin and printed. Other
1 See Dozy, Cat. Cod. Or. Lug. Bat. ii. 296.
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MEDICINE
[HISTORY
writers of this century need not be mentioned here; but the next,
the nth century, is given as the probable though uncertain date
of a writer who had a great influence on European medicine, Mesua
the younger of Damascus, whose personality is obscure, and of whose
very existence some historians have doubted, thinking that the
name was assumed by some medieval Latin writer. The work De
isimplicibus, which bears his name, was for centuries a standard
authority on what would now be called materia medica, was printed
in twenty-six editions in the 15th century and later, and was used
in the formation of the first London pharmacopoeia, issued by the
College of Physicians in the reign of James I. Either to the 10th
^or the nth century must be referred the name of another Arabian
'physician who has also attained the position of a classic, Abu'l
Qasim or Abulcasis, of El-Zahra, near Cordova, in Spain. His
great work, Altasrif, a medical encyclopaedia, is chiefly valued for
its surgical portion (already mentioned), which was translated into
Latin in the 16th century, and was for some centuries a standard
if not the standard authority on surgery in Europe. Among his
own countrymen the fame and position of Abulcasis were soon
eclipsed by the greater name of Avicenna.
Avicenna has always been regarded as the chief representative of
Arabian medicine. He wrote on philosophy also, and in both
subjects acquired the highest reputation through the whole of
eastern Islam. In Mahommedan Spain he was le^s regarded, but
in Europe his works even eclipsed and superseded tnose of Hippo-
crates and Galen. His style and expository power are highly praised,
but the subject-matter shows little originality. The work by which
he is chiefly known, the celebrated " canon," is an encyclopaedia
of medical and surgical knowledge, founded upon Galen, Aristotle,
the later Greek physicians, and the earlier Arabian writers, singularly
complete and systematic, but is thought not to show the practical
experience of its author. As in the case of Galen, the formal and
encyclopaedic character of Avicenna's works was the chief cause
of his popularity and ascendancy, though in modern times these
very qualities in a scientific or medical writer would rather cause
him to become more speedily antiquated.
In the long list of Arabian medical writers none can here be
mentioned except the great names of the Hispano-Moorish school,
a school both philosophically and medically antagonistic to that
of Avicenna. Of these the earliest is Avenzoar or Abumeron, that
is, Abu Merwan 'Abd al-Malik Ibn Zuhr (beginning of 12th century),
a member of a family which gave several distinguished members to
the medical profession. His chief work, Al-Teystr (facilitatio), is
thought to show more practical experience than the writings of
Avicenna, and to be less based upon dialectical subtleties. It was
translated into Latin, and more than once printed, as were some of
his lesser works, which thus formed a part of the contribution made
by the Arabians to European medicine. His friend and pupil
Averroes of Cordova (q.v.), so well known for his philosophical
writings, was also an author in medical subjects, and as such widely
read in Latin. The famous Rabbi Maimonii>es (a.d. 1 135-1204)
(q.v.) closes for us the roll of medical writers of the Arabian school.
His works exist chiefly in the original Arabic or in Hebrew transla-
tions; only some smaller treatises have been translated into Latin,
so that no. definite opinion can be formed as to their medical value.
But, so far as is known, the independent and rationalistic spirit
which the two last-named writers showed in philosophy did not lead
them to take any original point of view in medicine.
The works of the Arabian medical writers who have now been
mentioned form a very small fraction of the existing literature.
Three hundred medical writers in Arabic are enumerated by Ferdi-
nand Wiistenfeld (1808-1899), and other historians have enlarged the
list (Haser), but only three have been printed in the original; a
certain number more are known through old Latin translations, and
the great majority still exist in manuscript. It is thus evident that
the circumstance of having been translated (which may have been
in some cases almost an accident) is what has chiefly determined
the influence of particular writers on Western medicine. But it is
improbable that further research will alter the general estimate of
the value of Arabian medicine. There can be no doubt that it
was in the main Greek medicine, modified to suit other climates,
habits and national tastes, and with some important additions
from Oriental sources. The greater part is taken from Hippocrates,
Galen, Dioscorides and later Greek writers. The Latin medical
writers were necessarily unknown to the Arabs; and this was partly
the cause that even in Europe Galenic medicine assumed such a
preponderance, the methodic school and Celsus being forgotten or
neglected. In anatomy and physiology the Arabians distinctly
went back; in surgery they showed no advance upon the Greeks;
in practical medicine nothing new can be traced, except the descrip-
tion of certain diseases (e.g. small-pox and measles) unknown or
imperfectly known to the Greeks; the only real advance was in
pharmacy and the therapeutical use of drugs. By their relations
with the farther East, the Arabs became acquainted with valuable
new remedies which have held their ground till modern times; and
their skill in chemistry enabled them to prepare new chemical
remedies, and form many combinations of those already in use.
They produced the first pharmacopoeia, and established the first
apothecaries' shops. Many of the names and many forms of medi-
cines now used, and in fact the general outline of modern pharmacy,
except so far as modified by modern chemistry, started with the
Arabs. Thus does Arabian medicine appear as judged from a
modern standpoint ; but to medieval Europe, when Tittle but a
tradition remained of the great ancient schools, it was invested with
a far higher degree of originality and importance.
It is now necessary to consider what was the state of medicine
in Europe after the fall of the Western Empire and before the
influence of Arabian science and literature began to be felt.
This we may call the pre-Arabian or Salernitan period.
Medicine in the Early Middle Ages: School of Salerno. — In
medical as in civil history there is no real break. A continuous
thread of learning and practice must have connected the last
period of Roman medicine already mentioned with the dawn of
science in the middle ages. But the intellectual thread is
naturally traced with greater difficulty than that which is the
theme of civil history; and in periods such as that from the
5th to the 10th century in Europe it is almost lost. The chief
homes of medical as of other learning in these disturbed times
were the monasteries. Though the science was certainly not
advanced by their labours, it was saved from total oblivion, and
many ancient medical works were preserved either in Latin or
vernacular versions. The Anglo-Saxon Leechdoms 1 of the nth
century, published in the Rolls series of medieval chronicles
and memorials, admirably illustrate the mixture of magic and
superstition with the relics of ancient science which constituted
monastic medicine. Similar works, in Latin or other languages,
exist in manuscript in all the great European libraries. It was
among the Benedictines that the monastic study of medicine first
received a new direction, and aimed at a higher standard. The
study of Hippocrates, Galen, and other classics was recommended
by Cassiodorus (6th century), and in the original mother-abbey of
Monte Cassino medicine was studied; but there was not there
what could be called a medical school; nor had this foundation
any connexion (as has been supposed) with the famous school
of Salerno.
The origin of this, the most important source of medical know-
ledge in Europe in the early middle ages, is involved in obscurity.
It is known that Salerno, a Roman colony, in a situation noted
in ancient times for its salubrity, was in the 6th century at least
the seat of a bishopric, and at the end of the 7th century of a
Benedictine monastery, and that some of the prelates and higher
clergy were distinguished for learning, and even for medical
acquirements. But it has by recent researches been clearly
established that the celebrated Schola salernilana was a purely
secular institution. All that can with certainty be said is that
a s«jool or collection of schools gradually grew up in which
especially medicine, but also, in a subordinate degree, law and
philosophy were taught. In the oth century Salernitan physicians
werf already spoken of, and the city was known as Civitas
hippocratica. A little later we find great and royal personages
resorting to Salerno for the restoration of their health, among
whom was William of Normandy, afterwards the Conqueror.
The number of students of medicine must at one time have been
considerable, and in a corresponding degree the number of
teachers. Among the latter many were married, and their wives
and daughters appear also in the lists of professors. The most
noted female professor was the celebrated Trotula in the nth
century. The Jewish element appears to have been important
among the students, and possibly among the professors. The
reputation of the school was great till the 12th or r3th century,
when the introduction of the Arab medicine was gradually fatgl
to it. The foundation of the university of Naples, and the rise
of Montpellier, also contributed to its decline.
The teachings of the Salernitan doctors are pretty well known
through existing works, some of which have only recently been
discovered and published. The best-known is the rhyming Latin
poem on health by Joannes de Meditano, Regimen sanitatis Salerni,
professedly written for the use of the " king of England," supposed
to mean William the Conqueror; it had an immense reputation
in the middle ages, and was afterwards many times printed, and
translated into most European languages. This was a popular
work intended for the laity; but there are others strictly professional.
1 Derived from the Anglo-Saxon laece, a physician, and dom, a law.
HISTORY]
MEDICINE
47
Among the writers it may be sufficient to mention here Gariopontus ;
Copho, who wrote the Anatome porci, a well-known medieval book;
Joannes Platearius, first of a family of physicians bearing the same
name, whose Practica, or medical compendium, was afterwards
several times printed; and Trotula, believed to be the wife of the
last-named. All of these fall into the first period before the advent
of Arabian medicine. In the transitional period, when the Arabian
school began to influence European medicine, but before the Salerni-
tans were superseded, comes Nicolaus Praepositus, who wrote the
Antidotarium, a collection of formulae for compound medicines,
which became the standard work on the subject, and the foundation
of many later compilations. An equally popular writer was Gilles
de Corbeil (Aegidius Corboliensis) , at one time a teacher at Salerno,
afterwards court physician to Philip Augustus of France, who com-
posed several poems in Latin hexameters on medical subjects.
Two of them, on the urine and the pulse respectively, attained the
position of medical classics.
None of these Salernitan works rise much above the rank of
compilations, being founded on Hippocrates, Galen and later Greek
writers, with an unmistakable mixture of the doctrines of the
methodists. But they often show much practical experience, and
exhibit the naturalistic method of the Hippocratic school. The
general plan of treatment is dietetic rather than pharmaceutical,
though the art of preparing drugs had reached a high degree of
complexity at Salerno. Anatomy was as little regarded as it was
in the later ancient schools, the empiric and methodic, but demon-
strations of the parts of the body were given' on swine. Although
it cannot be said that the science of medicine was advanced at
Salerno, still its decline was arrested at a time when every other
branch of learning was rapidly falling into decay; and there can be
no doubt that the observation of patients in hospitals, and probably
clinical instruction, were made use of in learning and teaching. The
school of Salerno thus forms a bridge between the ancient and the
modern medicine, more direct though less conspicuous than that
circuitous route, through Byzantium, Bagdad and Cordova, by
which Hippocrates and Galen, in Arabian dress, again entered
the European world. Though the glory of Salerno had departed,
the school actually existed till it was finally dissolved by an edict of
the emperor Napoleon I. in the year 1811.
Introduction of Arabian Medicine: The Scholastic Period. —
About the middle of the nth century the Arabian medical
writers began to be known by Latin translations in the Western
world. Constantinus Africanus, a monk, was the author of
the earliest of such versions (a.d. 1050) ; his labours were directed
chiefly to the less important and less bulky Arabian authors, of
whom Haly was the most noted; the real classics were not
introduced till later. For some time the Salernitan medicine
held its ground, and it was not till the conquest of Toledo by
Alphonso of Castile that any large number of Western scholars
came in contact with the learning of the Spanish Moors, and
systematic efforts were made to translate their philosophical
and medical works. Jewish scholars, often under the patronage
of Christian bishops, were especially active in the work. In
Sicily also the Oriental tendencies of Frederick Barbarossa
and Frederick II. worked in the same direction. Gerard of
Cremona, a physician of Toledo (1114-1187), made translations,
it is said by command of Barbarossa, from Avicenna and others.
It is needless to point out the influence of the crusades in making
Eastern ideas known in the Western world. The influence of
Arabian medicine soon began to be felt even in the Hippocratic
city of Salerno, and in the 13th century is said to have held an
even balance with the older medicine. After this time the
foreign influence predominated; and by the time that the Aristo-
telian dialectic, in the introduction of which the Arabs had so
large a share, prevailed in the schools of Europe, the Arabian
version of Greek medicine reigned supreme in the medical world.
That this movement coincided with the establishment of some of
the older European universities is well known. The history of
medicine in the period now opening is closely combined with the
history of scholastic philosophy. Both were infected with the
same dialectical subtlety, which was, from the nature of the
subject, especially injurious to medicine.
At the same time, through the rise of the universities, medical
learning was much more widely diffused, and the first definite
forward movement was seen in the school of Montpellier, where
a medical faculty existed early in the 12th century, afterwards
united with faculties of law and philosophy. The medical school
owed its foundation largely to Jewish teachers, themselves
educated in the Moorish schools of Spain, and imbued with the
intellectual independence of the Averroists. Its rising prosperity
coincided with the decline of the school of Salerno. Montpellier
became distinguished for the practical and empirical spirit of
its medicine, as contrasted with the dogmatic and scholastic
teaching of Paris and other universities. In Italy, Bologna
and Padua were earliest distinguished for medical studies — the
former preserving more of the Galenical tradition, the latter
being more progressive and Averroist. The northern univer-
sities contributed little — the reputation even of Paris being of
later growth.
The supremacy of Arabian medicine lasted till the revival of
learning, when the study of the medical classics in their original
language worked another revolution. The medical writers of
this period, who chiefly drew from Arabian sources, have been
called Arabists (though it is difficult to give any clear meaning
to this term), and were afterwards known as the neoterics.
The medical literature of this period is extremely voluminous,
but essentially second-hand, consisting mainly of commentaries on
Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna and others, or of compilations and
compendia still less original than commentaries. Among these may
be mentioned the Conciliator of Peter of Abano (1250-1315), the
Aggregator of Jacob de Dondi (1298-1359), both of the school of
Padua, and the Pandectae medicinae of the Salernitan Matthaeus
Sylvaticus (d. 1342), a sort of medical glossary and dictionary. But
for us the most interesting fact is the first appearance of Englishmen
as authors of medical works having a European reputation, dis-
tinguished, according to the testimony of Haser, by a practical
tendency characteristic of the British race, and fostered in the school
of Montpellier.
The first of these works is the Compendium medicinae, also called
Laurea or Rosa anglicana, of Gilbert (Gilbertus Anglicus, about
1 290) , said to contain good observations on leprosy. A more im-
portant work, the Practica seu lilium medicinae, of Bernard Gordon,
a Scottish professor at Montpellier (written in the year 1307), was
more widely spread, being translated into French and Hebrew, and
printed in several editions. Of these two physicians the first pro-
bably, the latter certainly, was educated and practised abroad, but
John Gaddesden (i28o?-i36i), the author of Rosa anglica seu
practica medicinae (between 1305 and 1317), was a graduate in
medicine of Merton College, Oxford, and court physician. His
compendium is entirely wanting in originality, and perhaps unusually
destitute of common sense, but it became so popular as to be re-
printed up to the end of the 16th century. Works of this kind
became still more abundant in the 14th and in the first half of the'
15th century, till the wider distribution of the medical classics in
the original put them out of fashion.
In surgery this period was far more productive than in medicine,
especially in Italy and France, but the limits of our subject only
permit us to.mention Gulielmus de Saliceto of Piacenza (about 1275),
Lanfranchi of Milan (died about 1306), the French surgeon, Guy de
Chauliac (about 1350) and the Englishman, John Ardern (about
!35°)- in anatomy also the beginning of a new epoch was made
by Mondino de Liucci or Mundinus (1275-1326), and his followers.
The medical writings of Arnald de Villanova (c. 1235-1313) (if the
Breviarium practicae be rightly ascribed to him) rise above the rank
of compilations. Finally, in the 13th and especially the 14th century
we find, under the name of consilia, the first medieval reports of
medical cases which are preserved in such a form as to be intelligible.
Collections of consilia were published, among others, by Gentilis
Fulgineus before 1348, by Bartolomeo Montagnana (d. 1470), and
by Baverius de Baveriis of Imola (about 1450). The last-named
contains much that is interesting and readable.
Period of the Revival of Learning. — The impulse which all
departments of intellectual activity received from the revival
of Greek literature in Europe was felt by medicine among the
rest. .Not that the spirit of the science, or of its corresponding
practice, was at once changed. The basis of medicine through
the middle ages had been literary and dogmatic, and it was
literary and dogmatic still; but the medical literature_ now
brought to light — including as it did the more important w'&Tks
of Hippocrates and Galen, many of them hitherto unknown,
and in addition the fprgotten element of Latin medicine,
especially the work of Celsus — was in .itself far superior to the
second-hand compilations and incorrect versions which had
formerly been accepted as standards. The classical works,
though still regarded with unreasoning reverence, were found
to have a germinative and vivifying power that carried the
mind out of the region of dogma, and prepared the way for the
scientific movement which has been growing in strength up to
our own day.
+8
MEDICINE
{HISTORY
Two of the most important results of the revival of learning
were indeed such as are excluded from the scope of this brief
sketch — namely, the reawakening -of anatomy, which to a large
extent grew out of the study of the works of Galen, and the
investigation of medicinal plants, to which a fresh impulse
was given by the revival of Dioscorides (a.d. 50) and other
ancient naturalists. The former brought with it necessarily
a more accurate conception of physiology, and thus led up
to the great discovery of Harvey, which was the turning-
point in modern medicine. The latter gave rise, on the one
hand, to the modern science of botany, on the other to a more
rational knowledge of drugs and their uses. At the same time,
the discovery of America, and increased intercourse with the
East, by introducing a variety of new plants, greatly accelerated
the progress both of botany and pharmacology.
But it was not in these directions that improvement was
first looked for. It was at first very naturally imagined that
the simple revival of classical and especially of Greek literature
would at once produce the same brilliant results in medicine
as in literature and philosophy. The movement of reform
started, of necessity, with scholars rather than practising
physicians — more precisely with a group of learned men,
whom we may be permitted, for the sake of a name, to call
the medical humanists, equally enthusiastic in the cause of
letters and of medicine. From both fields they hoped to expel
the evils which were summed up in the word barbarism. Nearly
all medieval medical literature was condemned under this name;
and for it the humanists proposed to substitute the originals of
Hippocrates and Galen, thus leading back medicine to its
fountain-head. Since a knowledge of Greek was still confined
to a small body of scholars, and a still smaller proportion of
physicians, the first task was to translate the Greek classics
into Latin. To this work several learned physicians, chiefly
Italians, applied themselves with great ardour. Among the
earliest were Nicolaus Leonicenus of Vicenza (1428-1524),
Giovanni de Monte or Montanus (1498-1552), and many others
in Italy. In northern Europe should be mentioned Gulielmus
Copus (1471-1532) and Gtinther of Andernach (1487-1584),
better known as Guinterius Andernacensis, both for a time
professors at Paris; and, among the greatest, Thomas Linacre
(about 1460-1524; see Linacre). A little later Janus Cornarius
or Hagenbut (1500-1558) and Leonhard Fuchs (1501-1566) in
Germany, and John Kaye of Caius (1510-1572) in England,
carried on the work. Symphorien Champier (Champerius
or Campegius) of Lyons (1472-1530)^ contemporary of Rabelais,
and the patron of Servetus, wrote with fantastic enthusiasm
on the superiority of the Greek to the Arabian physicians, and
possibly did something to enlist in the same cause the two
far greater men just mentioned. Rabelais not only lectured
on Galen and Hippocrates, but edited some works of the latter;
and Michael Servetus (1511-1553),^ a little tract Syruporum
universa ratio, defended the practice of Galen as compared
with that of the Arabians. The great Aldine Press made an
important contribution to the work, by editiones principes of
Hippocrates and Galen in the original. Thus was the campaign
opened against the medieval and Arabian writers, till finally
Greek medicine assumed a predominant position, and Galen took
the place of Avicenna. The result was recorded in a formal
manner by the Florentine Academy, sometime shortly before
1535: " Quae, excusso. Arabicae et barbarae servitutis medicae
jugo, ex professo se Galenicam appellavit et profligato barbaro-
rum exercitu unum totum et solum Galenum, ut optimum
artis medicae authorem, in omnibus se sequuturam pollicita
est." Janus Cornarius, from whom this is quoted, laments,
however, that the Arabians still reigned in most of the schools
of medicine, and that the Italian and French authors of works
called Practice were still in high repute. The triumph of Galen-
ism was therefore not complete by the middle of the 16th century.
It was probably most so, and earliest, in the schools of Italy
and in those of England, where the London College of Physicians
might be regarded as an offshoot of the Italian schools. Paris
was the stronghold of conservatism, and Germany was stirred
by the teachings of one who must be considered apart from all
schools — Paracelsus. The nature of the struggle between the
rival systems may be well illustrated by a formidable contro-
versy about the rules for bleeding in acute diseases. This
operation, according to the Arabian practice, was always
performed on a vein at a distance from the organ affected.
The Hippocratic and also Galenic rule, to let blood from, or
near to, the diseased organ, was revived by Pierre Brissot
(1470-1522), a professor in the university of Paris. His attempt
at reform, which was taken to be, as in effect it was, a revolt
against the authority of the Arabian masters, led to his expulsion
from Paris, and the formal prohibition by the parliament of
his method. Upon this apparently trifling question arose
a controversy which lasted many years, occupied several uni-
versities, and led to the interposition of personages no less
important than the pope and the emperor, but which is thought
•to have largely contributed to the final downfall of the Arabian
medicine.
Paracelsus and Chemical Medicine. — Contemporary with
the school of medical humanists, but little influenced by them,
lived in Germany a man of strange genius, of whose character
and importance the most opposite opinions have been expressed.
The first noticeable quality in Paracelsus (c. 1490-1541) is
his revolutionary independence of thought, which was supported
by his immense personal arrogance. Himself well trained
in the learning and medical science of the day, he, despised
and trampled upon all traditional and authoritative teachings.
He began his lectures at Basel by burning the books of Avicenna
and others; he afterwards boasted of having read no books
for ten years; he protested that his shoe-buckles were more
learned than Galen and Avicenna. On the other hand, he
spoke with respect of Hippocrates, and wrote a commentary
on his Aphorisms. In this we see a spirit very different from
the enthusiasm of the humanists for a purer and nobler philo-
sophy than the scholastic and Arabian versions of Greek thought.
There is no record of Paracelsus' knowledge- of Greek, and as,
at least in his student days, the most important works of Greek
medicine were very imperfectly known, it is probable he had
little first hand acquaintance with Galen or Hippocrates, while
his breach with the humanists is the more conspicuous from
his lecturing and writing chiefly in his native German.
Having thus made a clean sweep of nearly the whole of
the dogmatic medicine, what did Paracelsus put in its place?
Certainly not pure empiricism, or habits of objective observation.
He had a dogma of his own — one founded, according to his
German expositors, on the views of the Neoplatonists, of which
a few disjointed specimens must here suffice. The human body
was a " microcosm " which corresponded to the " macrocosm,"
arid contained in itself all parts of visible nature, — sun, moon,
stars and the poles of heaven. To know the nature of man
and how to deal with it, the physician should study, not anatomy ;
which Paracelsus utterly rejected, but all parts of external
nature. Life was a perpetual germinative process controlled
by the indwelling spirit or Archeus; and diseases, according
to the mystical conception of Paracelsus, were not natural
but spiritual. Nature was sufficient for the cure of most
diseases; art had only to interfere when the internal physician,
the man himself, was tired or incapable. Then some remedy
had to be introduced which should be antagonistic, not to the
disease in a physical sense, but to the spiritual seed of the disease.
These remedies were arcana — a word corresponding partly
to what we now call specific" remedies, but implying a mysterious^
connexion between the remedy and the " essence " of the
disease. Arcana were often shown to be such by their physical
properties, not only by such as heat, cold, &c., but by fortuitous
reseinblances to certain parts of the body; thus arose the famous
doctrine Of " signatures," or signs indicating the virtues and
uses of natural objects, which was afterwards developed into
great complexity. Great importance was also attached to
chemically prepared remedies as containing the essence or
spiritual quality of the material from which they were derived.
The actual therapeutical resources of Paracelsus included a
HISTORY]
MEDICINE
49
large number of metallic preparations, in the introduction
of some of which he did good service, and, among vegetable
preparations, the tincture of opium, still known by the name
he gave it, laudanum. In this doubtless he derived much
advantage from his knowledge of chemistry ^ though the science
was as yet not disentangled from the secret traditions of alchemy,
and was often mixed up with imposture.
German historians of medicine attach great importance to the
revolt of Paracelsus against the prevailing systems, and trace in
his writings anticipations of many scientific truths of later times.
That his personality was influential, and his intrepid originality of
great value as an example in his own country, is undeniable. As a
national reformer he has been not inaptly compared to Luther.
But his importance in the universal history of medicine we cannot
estimate so highly. The chief immediate result we can trace is the
introduction of certain mineral remedies, especially antimony, the
use of which became a kind of badge of the disciples of Paracelsus.
The use of these remedies was not, however, necessarily connected
with a belief in his system, which seems to have spread little beyond
his own country. Of the followers of Paracelsus some became mere
mystical quacks and impostors. Others, of more learning and better
repute, were distinguished from the regular physicians chiefly by
their use of chemical remedies. In France the introduction of
antimony gave rise to a bitter controversy which lasted into the
17th century, and led to the expulsion of some men of mark from
the Paris faculty. In England " chemical medicine " is first heard
of in the reign of Elizabeth, and was in like manner contemned and
assailed by the College of Physicians and the Society of Apothecaries.
But it should be remembered that all the chemical physicians did
not call Paracelsus master. The most notorious of that school in
England, Francis Anthony (1550-1623), never quotes Paracelsus,
but relies upon Arnald de Villanova and Raimon Lull. From this
time, however, it is always possible to trace a school of chemical
Eractitioners, who, though condemned by the orthodox Galenists,
eld their ground, till in the 17th century a successor of Paracelsus
arose in the celebrated J. B. Van Helmont.
Consequences of the Revival of Ancient Medicine. — The revival
of Galenic and Hippocratic medicine, though ultimately it
conferred the greatest benefits on medical sciences, did not
immediately produce any important or salutary reform in
practical medicine. The standard of excellence in the ancient
writers was indeed far above the level of the 16th century; but
the fatal habit of taking at second hand what should have been
acquired by direct observation retarded progress more than the
possession of better models assisted it, so that the fundamental
faults of medieval science remained uncorrected.
Nevertheless some progress has to be recorded, even if net
due directly to the study of ancient medicine. In the first
place the 15th and 16th centuries were notable for the outbreak
of certain epidemic diseases, which were unknown to the old
physicians. Of these the chief was the " sweating sickness "
or " English sweat," especially prevalent in, though not confined
to, the country whence it is named. Among many descriptions
of this disease, that by John Kaye or Caius, already referred
to, was one of the best, and of great importance as "showing
that the works of Galen did not comprise all that could be
known in medicine. The spread of syphilis, a, disease equally
unknown to the ancients, and the failure of Galen's remedies
to cure it, had a similar effect.
In another direction the foundations of modern medicine
were being laid during the 16th century — namely, by the intro-
duction of clinical instruction in hospitals. In this Italy,
and especially the renowned school of Padua, took the first
step, where Giovanni De Monte (Montanus), (1498-1552),
already mentioned as a humanist, gave clinical lectures on the
patients in the hospital of St Francis, which may still be read
with interest. Pupils flocked to him from all European coun-
tries; Germans are especially mentioned; a Polish student
reported and published some of his lectures; and the English-
man Kaye was a zealous disciple, who does not, however,
seem to have done anything towards transplanting this
method of instruction to his own country. Inspections of
the dead, to ascertain the nature of the disease, were made,
though not without difficulty, and thus the modern period
of the science of morbid anatomy was ushered in.
Medicine in the 17th Century. — The medicine of the early
17th century presents no features to distinguish it from that
of the preceding century. The practice and theory of medicine
were mainly founded upon Hippocrates and Galen, with ever-
increasing additions from the chemical school. But the develop-
ment of mathematical and physical science soon introduced
a fundamental change in the habits of thought with respect
to medical doctrine.
These discoveries not only weakened or destroyed the respect
for authority in matters of science, but brought about a marked
tendency to mechanical explanations of life and disease. When
William Harvey by his discovery of the circulation furnished
an explanation of many vital processes which was reconcilable
with the ordinary laws of mechanics, the efforts of medical
theorists were naturally directed to bringing all the departments
of medicine under similar laws. It is often assumed that the
writings and influence of Bacon did much towards introducing
a more scientific method into medicine and physiology. But,
without discussing the general philosophical position or historical
importance of Bacon, it may safely be said that his direct
influence can be little traced in medical writings of the first
half of the 17th century. Harvey, as is well known, spoke
slightingly of the great chancellor, and it is not till the rapid
development of physical science in England and Holland in the
latter part of the century, that we find Baconian principles
explicitly recognized.
The dominant factors in the 17th-century medicine were
the discovery of the circulation by William Harvey (published
in 1628), the mechanical philosophy of Descartes and the
contemporary progress of physics, the teaching of Van Helmont
and the introduction of chemical explanations of morbid pro-
cesses, and finally, combined of all these, and inspiring them,
the rise of the spirit of inquiry and innovation, which may be
called the scientific movement. Before speaking in detail of
these, we may note that by other influences quite independent
of theories, important additions were made to practical medicine.
The method of clinical instruction in hospitals, commenced
by the Italians, was introduced into Holland, where it was
greatly developed, especially at Leiden, in the hands of Francis
de la Boe, called Sylvius (1641-1672). It is noteworthy that
concurrently with the rise of clinical study the works of Hippo-
crates were more and more valued, while Galen began to sink
into the background.
At the same time the discovery of new diseases, unknown
to the ancients, and the keener attention which the great
epidemics of plague caused to be paid to those already known,
led to more minute study of the natural history of disease.
The most important disease hitherto undescribed was rickets,
first made known by Arnold de Boot, a Frisian who practised
in Ireland, in 1649, and afterwards more fully in the celebrated
work of Francis Glisson (1597-1677) in 1651. The plague
was carefully studied by Isbrand de Diemerbroek, in his De
Peste (1646), and others. Nathaniel Hodges of London (1629-
1688) in 1665 seems to have been the first who had the ' courage
to make a post mortem inspection of a plague patient. Chris-
topher Bennet (1617-1655) wrote an important work on con-
sumption in 1654. During the same period many new remedies
were introduced, the most important being cinchona-bark,
brought to Spain in the year 1640. The progress of pharmacy
was shown by the publication of Dispensatories or Pharma-
copoeiae — such as that of the Royal College of Physicians of
London in 1618. This, like the earlier German works of the
same kind (on which it was partly founded), contains both
the traditional (Galenical) and the modern or chemical remedies.
Van Helmont. — The medicine of the 17th century was especially
distinguished by the rise of sytems ; and we must first speak of an
eccentric genius who endeavoured to construct a system for himself,
as original and opposed to tradition as that of Paracelsus. J. B.
Van Helmont (1578-1644) was a man of noble family in Brussels,
who, after mastering all other branches of learning as then under-
stood, devoted himself with enthusiasm to medicine and chemistry.
By education and position a little out of the regular lines of the
profession, he took up in medicine an independent attitude. Well ac-
quainted with the doctrines of Galen, he rejected them as thoroughly
as Paracelsus did, and borrowed from the latter some definite ideas
as well as his revolutionary spirit. The archeus of Paracelsus
50
MEDICINE
[HISTORY
appears again, but with still further complications — the whole body
being controlled by the archeus influus, and the organ of the soul
and its various parts by the archei insiti, which are subject to the
central archeus. Many of the symptoms of diseases were caused
by the passions and perturbations of the archeus, and medicines
acted by modifying the ideas of the same archeus. These and other
notions cannot be here stated at sufficient length to be intelligible.
It is enough to say that on this fantastic basis Helmont constructed
a medical system which had some practical merits, that his thera-
peutical methods were mild and in many respects happy, and that
he did service by applying newer chemical methods to the prepara-
tion of drugs. He thus had some share, though a share not generally
recognized, in the foundation of the iatro-chemical school, now to
be spoken of. But his avowed followers formed a small and dis-
credited sect, which, in England at least, can be clearly traced in
the latter part of the century.
Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood. — The influence of Harvey's
discovery began to be felt before the middle of the century. Its
merits were recognized by Descartes, among the first, nine years
after its publication. For the history of the discovery, and its
consequences in anatomy and physiology, we must refer to the article
Harvey. In respect of practical medicine, much less effect was at
first noticeable. But this example, combined with the Cartesian
principles, set many active and ingenious spirits to work to recon-
struct the whole of medicine on a physiological or even a mechanical
basis — to endeavour to form what we should now call physiological
or scientific medicine. The result of this was not to eliminate dogma
from medicine, though it weakened the authority of the old dogma.
The movement led rather to the formation of schools or systems
of thought, which under various names lasted on into the 1 8th
century, while the belief in the utility or necessity of schools and
systems lasted much longer. The most important of these were
the so-called iatro-physical or mechanical and the iatro-chemical
schools.
Iatro-Physical School. — The iatro-physical school of medicine
grew out of physiological theories. Its founder is held to have been
G. A. Borelli (1608-1679), whose treatise De motu animalium,
published in 1680, is regarded as marking an epoch in physiology.
The tendency of the school was to explain the actions and functions
of the body on physical, and especially on mechanical, principles.
The movements of bones and muscles were referred to the theory
of levers; the process of digestion was regarded as essentially a
process of trituration; nutrition and secretion were shown to be
dependent upon the tension of the vessels, and so forth. The
developments of this school belong rather to the, history of physiology,
where they appear, seen in the light of modern science, as excellent
though premature endeavours in a scientific direction. But the
influence of these theories on practical medicine was not great.
The more judicious of the mechanical or physical school refrained,
as a judicious modern physiologist does, from too immediate
an application of their principles to daily practice. Mechanical
theories were introduced into pathology, in explanation of the
processes of fever and the like, but had little or no influence on
therapeutics. The most important men in this school after Borelli
were Nicolaus Stensen (Steno), (1638-1686), Giorgio Baglivi (1669-
1707) and Lorenzo Bellini (1643-I704). An English physician, William
Cole (1635-1716), is also usually ranked with them. One of the
most elaborate developments of the system was that of Archibald
Pitcairne (1652-1713), a Scottish physician who became professor
at Leiden, to be spoken of hereafter.
Iatro-Chemical School. — The so-called iatro-chemical school stood
in a much closer relation to practical medicine than the iatro-
physical. The principle which mainly distinguished it was not
merely the use of chemical medicines in addition to the traditional,
or, as they were called in distinction, " Galenical " remedies, but
a theory of pathology or causation of disease entirely different from
the prevailing " humoral " pathology. Its chief aim was to reconcile
the new views in physiology and chemistry witjh practical medicine.
In some theoretical views, and in the use of certain remedies, the
school owed something to Van Helmont and Paracelsus, but took
in the main an independent position. The founder of the iatro-
chemical school was Sylvius (1614-1672), who belonged to a French
family settled in Holland, and was for fourteen years professor of
medicine at Leiden, where he attracted students from all quarters
of Europe. He made a resolute attempt to reconstruct medicine
on the two bases of the doctrine of the circulation of the blood and
the new views of chemistry. Fermentation, which was supposed
to take place in the stomach, played an important part in the vital
processes. Chemical disturbances of these processes, called acridities,
&c, were the cause of fevers and other diseases. Sometimes acid
sometimes alkaline properties predominated in the juices and
secretions of the body, and produced corresponding disturbances.
In nervous diseases disturbances of the vital " spirits " were most
important. Still in some parts of his system Sylvius shows an
anxiety to base his pathology on anatomical changes. The remedies
he employed were partly galenical, partly chemical. He was very
moderate in the use of bleeding.
The doctrines of Sylvius became widely spread in Holland and
Germany; less so in France and Italy. In England they were not
generally accepted till adopted with some modifications by Thomas
Willis the great anatomist (1621-1675), who is the chief English
representative of the chemical school. Willis was as thorough-going
a chemist as Sylvius. He regarded all bodies, organic and inorganic,
as composed of the three elements — spirit, sulphur and salt, the
first being only found abundantly in animal bodies. The " intestine
movement of particles " in every body, or fermentation, was the
explanation of many of the processes of life and disease. The sen-
sible properties and physical alterations of animal fluids and solids
depended upon different proportions, movements and combinations
of these particles. The elaborate work Pharmacentice rationalis
(1674), based on these materials, had much influence in its time,
though it was soon forgotten. But some parts of Willis's works,
such as his descriptions of nervous diseases, and his account
(the earliest) of diabetes, are classical contributions to scientific
medicine. In the application of chemistry to the examination of
secretions Willis made some important steps. The chemical school
met with violent opposition, partly from the adherents of the ancient
medicine, partly from the iatro-mechanical school. Towards the
end of the 17th century appeared an English medical reformer who
sided with none of these schools, but may be said in some respects
to have surpassed and dispensed with them.
Sydenham and Locke. — Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689) was
educated at Oxford and at Montpellier. He was well acquainted
with the works of the ancient physicians, and probably fairly so
with chemistry. Of his knowledge of anatomy nothing definite
can be said, as he seldom refers to it. His main avowed principle
was to do without hypothesis, and study the actual diseases in an
unbiassed manner. As his, model in medical methods, Sydenham
repeatedly and pointedly refers to Hippocrates, and he has not
unfairly been called the English Hippocrates. He resembled his
Greek master in the high value he set on the study of the " natural
history of disease "; in the importance he attached to " epidemic
constitution "—that is, to the influence of weather and other natural
causes in modifying disease; and further in his conception of the
healing power of nature in disease, a doctrine which he even
expanded beyond the teaching of Hippocrates. According to Syden-
ham, a disease is nothing more than an effort of nature to restore
the health of the patient by the elimination of the morbific matter.
The extent to which his practice was influenced by this and other
a priori conceptions prevents us from classing Sydenham as a pure
empiric ; but he had the rare merit of never permitting himself to be
enslaved even by his own theories. Still less was his mind warped
by either of the two great systems, the classical and the chemical,
which then divided the medical world. Sydenham's influence on
European medicine was very great. His principles were welcomed
as a return to nature by those who were weary of theoretical disputes.
He introduced a milder and better way of treating fevers — especially
small-pox, and gave strong support to the use of specific medicines —
especially Peruvian bark. He was an advocate of bleeding, and
often carried it to excess. Another important point in Sydenham's
doctrine is his clear recognition of many diseases as being what
would be now called specific, and not due merely to an alteration
in the primary qualities or humours of the older schools. From
this springs his high appreciation of specific medicines.
One name should always be mentioned along with Sydenham —
that of his friend John Locke. The great sensational philosopher
was a thoroughly trained physician, and practised privately. He
shared and defended many of Sydenham's principles, and in the few
medical observations he has left shows himself to be even more
thorough-going than the " English Hippocrates." It is deeply to
be regretted in the interests of medicine that he did not write more.
It is, however, reasonable to suppose that his commanding intellect
often makes itself felt in the words of Sydenham. One sentence
of Locke's, in a letter to William Molyneux, sums up the practical
side of Sydenham's teaching : — , .
" You cannot imagine how far a little observation carefully made
by a man not tied up to the four humours [Galen], or sal, sulphur
and mercury [Paracelsus], or to acid and alcali [Sylvius and Willis]
which has of late prevailed, will carry a man in the curing of diseases
though very stubborn and dangerous ; and that with very little and
common things, and almost no medicine at all."
We thus see that, while the great anatomists, physicists and
chemists — men of the type of Willis, Borelli and Boyle — were laying
foundations which were later on built up into the fabric of scientific
meiicine, little good was done by the premature application of their
half-understood principles to practice. The reform of practical
icine was effected by men who aimed at, and partly succeeded
Jejecting all hypothesis and returning to the unbiassed study of
iral processes, as shown in health and disease,
denham showed that these processes might be profitably studied
and dealt with without explaining them; and, by turning men's
minds away from explanations and fixing them on facts, he enriched
medicine with a method more fruitful than any discoveries in detail.
From this time forth the reign of canonical authority in medicine
was at an end, though the dogmatic spirit long survived.
The 18th Century. — The medicine of the 18th century is
notable, like that of the latter part of the 17th, for the striving
HISTORY]
MEDICINE
51
after complete theoretical systems. The influence of the
iatro-physical school was by no means exhausted; and in
England, especially through the indirect influence of Sir Isaac
Newton's (1642-1727) great astronomical generalizations, it
took on a mathematical aspect, and is sometimes known as
iatro-mathematical. This phase is most clearly developed in
Archibald Pitcairne (1652-1713), who, though a determined
opponent of metaphysical explanations, and of the chemical
doctrines, gave to his own rude mechanical explanations of life
and disease almost the dogmatic completeness of a theological
system. His countryman and pupil, George Cheyne (167 1-
I 743)> who lived some years at Bath, published a new theory of
fevers on the mechanical system, which had a great reputation.
Their English contemporaries and successors, John Freind,
William Cole, and Richard Mead, leaned also to mechanical
explanations, but with a distrust of systematic theoretical
completeness, which was perhaps partly a national characteristic,
partly the result of the teaching of Sydenham and Locke.
Freind (1675-1728) in his Emmenologia gave a mechanical
explanation of the phenomena of menstruation. He is also
one of the most distinguished writers on the history of medicine.
Cole (163 5-1 7 1 6) (see above) published mechanical hypotheses
concerning the causation of fevers which closely agree with those
of the Italian iatro-mechanical school. More distinguished
in his own day than any of these was Mead (1673-1754), one
of the most accomplished and socially successful physicians
of modern times. Mead was the pupil of the equally popular
and successful John Radcliffe (1650-1714), who had acquired
from Sydenham a contempt for book-learning, and belonged
to no school in medicine but the school of common sense. Rad-
cliffe left, however, no work requiring mention in a history of
medicine. Mead, a man of great learning and intellectual
activity, was an ardent advocate of the mathematical doctrines.
" It is very evident," he says, " that all other means of improving
medicine have been found ineffectual, by the stand it was
at for two thousand years, and that, since mathematicians
have set themselves to the study of it, men already begin to
talk so intelligibly and comprehensibly, even about abstruse
matters, that it is to be hoped that mathematical learning
will be the distinguishing mark of a physician and a quack."
His Mechanical Account of Poisons, in the first edition (1702),
gave an explanation of the effects of poisons, as acting only
on the blood. Afterwards he modified his hypothesis, and
referred the disturbances produced to the " nervous liquor,"
which he supposed to be a quantity of the " universal elastic
matter " diffused through the universe, by which Newton
explained the phenomena of light — i.e. what was afterwards
called the luminiferous ether. Mead's treatise on The Power
of the Sun and Moon over Human Bodies (1704), equally inspired
by Newton's discoveries, was a premature attempt to assign
the influence of atmospheric pressure and other cosmical causes
in producing disease. His works contain, however, many
original experiments, and excellent practical observations.
James Keill (1673-1710) applied Newtonian and mechanical
principles to the explanation of bodily functions with still
greater accuracy and completeness; but his researches have more
importance for physiology than for practical medicine.
Boerhaave. — None of these men founded a school — a result due
in part to their intellectual character, in part to the absence in
England of medical schools equivalent in position and importance
to the universities of the Continent. An important academical
position was, on the other hand, one of the reasons why a physician
not very different in his way of thinking from the English physicians
of the age of Queen Anne was able to take a far more predominant
position in the medical world. Hermann Boerhaave (1668-1738)
was emphatically a great teacher. He was for many years professor
of medicine at Leiden, where he lectured five hours a day, and
excelled in influence and reputation not only his greatest fore-
runners, Montanus of Padua and Sylvius of Leiden, but probably
every subsequent teacher. The hospital of Leiden, though with
only twelve beds available for teaching, became the centre of
medical influence in Europe. Many of the leading English physicians
of the 18th century studied there; Gerard Van Swieten (1700-
1772), a pupil of Boerhaave, transplanted the latter's method of
teaching to Vienna, and founded the noted Vienna school of medicine.
As the organizer, and almost the constructor, of the modern method
of clinical instruction, the services of Boerhaave to the progress of
medicine were immense, and can hardly be overrated. In his teach^
ing. as in his practice, he avowedly followed the method of Hippo-
crates and Sydenham, both of whom he enthusiastically admired.
In his medical doctrines he must be pronounced an eclectic, though
taking his stand mainly on the iatro-mechanical school. The best-
known parts of Boerhaave' s system are his doctrines of inflamma-
tion, obstruction and " plethora. 'By the last named especially
he was long remembered. His object was to make all the anatomical
and physiological acquisitions of his age, even microscopical ana-
tomy, which he diligently studied, available for use in the practice
of medicine. He thus differed from Sydenham, who took almost
as little account of modern science as of ancient dogma. Boerhaave
may be in some respects compared to Galen, but again differed
from him in that he always abstained from attempting to reduce
his knowledge to a uniform and coherent system. Boerhaave
attached great importance to the study of the medical classics,
but rather treated, them historically than quoted them as canonical
authorities. It almost follows from the nature of the case that the
great task of Boerhaave's life, a synthesis of ancient and modern
medicine, and the work in which this is chiefly contained, his
celebrated Institutions, could not have any great permanent value.
Nearly the same thing is true even of the Aphorisms, in which,
following the example of Hippocrates, he endeavoured to sum up
the results of his long experience.
Hoffmann and Stahl. — We have now to speak of two writers in
whom the systematic tendency of the 18th century showed itself
most completely.
Friedrich Hoffmann (1660-1742), like Boerhaave, owed his
influence, and perhaps partly his intellectual characteristics, to
his academical position. He was in 1693 appointed the first pro-
fessor of medicine in the university of Halle, then just founded by
the elector Frederick III. Here he became, as did his contemporary
and rival Stahl, a popular and influential teacher, though their
university had not the European importance of Leiden. Hoffmann's
" system " was apparently intended to reconcile the opposing
" spiritual " and " materialistic " views of nature, and is thought
to have been much influenced by the philosophy of Leibnitz. His
medical theories rest upon a complete theory of the universe. Life
depended upon a universally diffused ether, which animals breathe
in from the atmosphere, and which is contained in all parts of the
body. It accumulates in the brain, and there generates the " nervous
fluid " or pneuma — a theory closely resembling that of Mead on the
" nervous liquor," unless indeed Mead borrowed it from Hoffmann.
On this system are explained all the phenomena of life and disease.
Health depends on the maintenance of a proper "tone" in the
body — some diseases being produced by excess of tone, or " spasm ";
others by " atony," or want of tone. But it is impossible here to
follow its further developments. Independently of his system*
which has long ceased to exert any influence, Hoffmann made some
contributions to practical medicine; and his great knowledge of
chemistry enabled him to investigate the subject of mineral waters.
He was equally skilful in pharmacy, but lowered his position by
the practice, which would be unpardonable in a modern physician,
of trafficking in secret remedies.
George Ernest Stahl (1660-1734) was for more than twenty
years professor of medicine at Halle, and thus a colleague of Hoflv
mann, whom he resembled in constructing a complete theoretical
system, though their systems had little or nothing in common.
Stahl's chief aim was to oppose materialism. For mechanical
conceptions he substituted the theory ot " animism " — attributing
to the soul the functions of ordinary animal life in man, while the
life of other creatures was left to mechanical laws. The symptoms
of disease were explained as efforts of the soul to rid itself from
morbid influences, the soul acting reasonably with respect to the
end of self-preservation. The anima thus corresponds partly to
the " nature " of Sydenham, while in other respects it resembles
the archeus of Van Helmont. Animism in its completeness met
with little acceptance during the lifetime of its author, but influ-
enced some of the iatro-physical school. Stahl, was the author of
the theory of " phlogiston " in chemistry, which in its day had
great importance.
Haller and Morgagni. — From the subtleties of rival systems it is
a satisfaction to turn to two movements in the medicine of the
18th century which, though they did not extinguish the spirit of
system-making, opened up paths of investigation by which* the
systems were ultimately superseded. These are physiology in the
modern sense, as dating from Haller, and pathological anatomy,
as dating from Morgagni.
Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777) was a man of even more encyclo-
paedic attainments than Boerhaave. He advanced chemistry,
botany, anatomy, as well as physiology, and was incessantly
occupied in endeavouring to apply his scientific studies to practical
medicine, thus continuing the work of his great teacher Boerhaave.
Besides all this he was probably more profoundly acquainted with
the literature and bibliography of medicine than any one before
or since. Haller occupied in the new university of Gottingen
(founded 1737) a position corresponding to that of Boerhaave at
Leiden, and in like manner influenced a very large circle of pupils*
52
MEDICINE
[HISTORY
The appreciation of his work in physiology belongs to the history
of that science; we are only concerned here with its influence on
medicine. Haller's definition of irritability as a property of muscular
tissue, and its distinction from sensibility as a property of nerves,
struck at the root of the prevailing hypothesis respecting animal
activity. It was no longer necessary to suppose that a half-
conscious " anima " was directing every movement. Moreover,
Haller's views did not rest on a priori speculation, but on numerous
experiments. He was among the first to investigate the action of
medicines on healthy persons. Unfortunately the lesson which
his contemporaries learnt was not the importance of experiment,
but only the need of contriving other " systems " less open to objec-
tion; and thus the influence of Haller led directly to the theoretical
subtleties of William Cullen and John Brown, and only indirectly
and later on to the general anatomy of M. F. X. Bichat. The great
name of Haller does not therefore occupy a very prominent place
in the history of practical medicine.
The work of Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771) had and
still preserves a permanent importance beyond that of all the
contemporary theorists. In a series of letters, De sedibus et causis
morborum per anatomen indagatis, published when he was in his
eightieth year, he describes the appearances met with at the post
mortem examination as well as the symptoms during life in a
number of cases of various diseases. It was not the first work of
the kind. The Swiss physician, Theophile Bonet (1620-1689)
had published his Septdcretum in 1679; and observations of post
mortem appearances had been made by Montanus, P. Tulp,
Raymond Vieussens, A.M. Valsalva, G. M. Lancisi, Haller and
others. But never before was so large a collection of cases brought
together, described with such accuracy, or illustrated with equal
anatomical and medical knowledge. Morgagni's work at once
made an epoch in the science. Morbid anatomy now became a
recognized branch of medical research, and the movement was
started which has lasted till our own day.
The contribution of Morgagni to medical science must be regarded
as in some respects the counterpart of Sydenham's. The latter
had, in neglecting anatomy, neglected the most solid basis for
studying the natural history of disease; though perhaps it was less
from choice than because his practice, as he was not attached to a
hospital, gave him no opportunities. But it is on the combination of
the two methods — that of Sydenham and of Morgagni — that modern
medicine rests; and it is through these that it has been able to make
steady progress in its own field, independently of the advance of
physiology or other sciences.
The method of Morgagni found many imitators, both in his own
country and in others. In England the first important name in
this field is at the same time that of the first writer of a systematic
work in any language on morbid anatomy, Matthew Baillie (1761-
1823), a nephew of John and William Hunter, who published his
treatise in 1795.
Cullen and Brown. — It remains to speak of two systematic
writers on medicine in the 18th century, whose jp-eat reputation
prevents them from being passed over, though their real contribur
tion to the progress of medicine was not great — Cullen and Brown.
William Cullen (1 710-1790) was a most eminent and popular
professor of medicine at Edinburgh. The same academical influ-
ences as surrounded the Dutch and German founders of systems
were doubtless partly concerned in leading him to form the plan
of a comprehensive system of medicine. Cullen's system was
jargely based on the new physiological doctrine of irritability, but
is especially noticeable for the importance attached to nervous
action. Thus even gout was regarded as a " neurosis." These
pathological principles of Cullen are contained in his First Lines of
the Practice of Physic, an extremely popular book, often reprinted
and translated. More importance is to be attached to his Nosology
or Classification of Diseases. The attempt to classify diseases on
a natural-history plan was not new, having been commenced by
Sauvages and others, and is perhaps not a task of the highest
importance. Cullen drew out a classification of great and needless
complexity, the chief part of which is now forgotten, but several
of his main divisions are still preserved.
It is difficult to form a clear estimate of the importance of the
last systematizer of medicine — John Brown (1735-1788) — for, though
in England he has been but little regarded, the wide though short-
lived popularity of his system on the Continent shows that it must
have contained some elements of brilliancy, if not originality.
His theory of medicine professed to explain the processes of life
and disease, and the methods of cure, upon one simple principle —
that of the property of " excitability, in virtue of which the
" exciting powers," defined as being (1) external forces and (2) the
functions of the system itself, call forth the vital phenomena " sense,
motion, mental function and passion." All exciting powers are
stimulant, the apparent debilitating or sedative effect of some
being due to a deficiency in the degree of stimulus; so that the
final conclusion is that " the whole phenomena of life, health as
well as disease, consist in stimulus and nothing else." Brown
recognized some diseases as sthenic, others as asthenic, the latter
requiring stimulating treatment, the former the reverse; but his
practical conclusion was that 97% of all diseases required a " stimu-
lating " treatment. In this he claimed to have made the most
salutary reform because all " physicians from Hippocrates had
treated diseases by depletion and debilitating measures with the
object of curing by elimination. It would be unprofitable to
attempt a complete analysis of the Brunonian system; and it is
difficult now to understand why it attracted so much attention in
its day. To us at the present time it seems merely a dialectical
construction, having its beginning and end in definitions: the words
power, stimulus, &c, being used in such a way as not to correspond
to any precise physical conceptions, still less to definite material
objects or forces. One recommendation of the system was that
it favoured a milder system of treatment than was at that time in
vogue; Brown may be said to have been the first advocate of the
modern stimulant or feeding treatment of fevers. He advocated
the use of " animal soups " or beef-tea. Further, he had the
discernment to see that certain symptoms — such as convulsions
and delirium, which were then commonly held always to indicate
inflammation — were often really signs of weakness.
The fortunes of Brown's system (called, from having been origin-
ally, written in Latin, the Brunonian) form one of the strangest
chapters in the history of medicine. In Scotland, Brown so far
won the sympathy of the students that riotous conflicts took place
between his partisans and opponents. In England his system
took little root. In Italy, on the other hand, it received enthusiastic
support, and, naturally, a corresponding degree of opposition.
The most important adherent to Brown's system was J. Rasori
('763-1837), who taught it as professor at Pavia, but afterwards
substituted his own system of contra-stimulus. The theoretical
differences between tmsand the "stimulus" theory need not be
expounded. The practical difference in the corresponding treat-
ment was very gre^t, as Rasori advocated a copious use of bleeding
and of depressing remedies, such as antimony. Joseph Frank
(1774-1841), a German professor at Pavia, afterwards of Vienna,
the author of an encyclopaedic work on medicine now forgotten,
embraced the Brunonian system, though he afterwards introduced
some modifications, and transplanted it to Vienna. Many names
are quoted as partisans or opponents of the Brunonian system in
Italy, but scarcely one of them has any other claim to be remem-
bered. In Germany the new system called forth, a little later,
no less enthusiasm and contrpversial heat. C. Girtanner (1760-
1800) first began to spread the new ideas (though giving them
out as his own), but Weikard was the first avowed advocate of
the system. RSschlaub (1768-1835) modified Brown's system into
the theory of excitement {Erregungstheorie) , which for a time was
extremely popular in Germany. The enthusiasm of the younger
Brunonians in Germany was as great as in Edinburgh or in Italy,
and led to serious riots in the university of Gottingen. In America
the system was enthusiastically adopted by a noted physician,
Benjamin Rush (1745-1813), of Philadelphia, who was followed
by a considerable school. France was not more influenced by the
new school than England. In both countries the tendency towards
ppsitive science and progress by objective investigation was too
marked for any theoretical system to have more than a passing
influence. In France, however, the influence of Brown's theories
is very clearly seen in the writings of Frangois J. V, Bfoussais,
who, though not rightly classed with the system-makers, since his
conclusions were partly based upon anatomical investigation,
resembled them in his attempt to unite theory and practice in one
comprehensive synthesis. The explanation of the meteoric splen-
dour of the Brunonian system in other countries seems to be as
follows. In Italy the period of intellectual decadence had set in,
and no serious scientific ardour remained to withstand the novelties
of abstract theory. In Germany the case was somewhat different.
Intellectual activity was not wanting, but the great achievements
of the 1 8th century in philosophy and the moral sciences had
fostered a love of abstract speculation; and some sort of cosmical
or general system was thought indispensable in every department
of special science. Hence another generation had to pass away
before Germany found herself on the level, in scientific investigation^
of France and England.
Before the theoretic tendency of the 18th century was quite
exhausted, it displayed itself in a system which, though in some
respects isolated in the history of medicine, stands nearest to that
of Brown— that, namely, of Hahnemann (see Homoeopathy).
S. C. F. Hahnemann (1753-1844) was in conception as revolutionary
a reformer of medicine as Paracelsus. He professed to base medicine ;
entirely on a knowledge of symptoms, regarding all investigation
of the causes of symptoms as useless. While thus rejecting all the
lessons of morbid anatomy and pathology, he put forward views
respecting the causes of disease which hardly bear to be seriously
stated. All_ chronic maladies result either from three diseases —
psora (the itch), syphilis or sycosis (a skin disease), or else are
maladies produced by medicines. Seven-eighths of all chronic
diseases are produced by itch driven inwards. 1 (It is fair to. say
that these views were published in one of his later works.) In
treatment of disease Hahnemann rejected entirely the notion of
a vis medicatrix naturae, and was guided by his well-known principle
1 The itch {scabies) is really an affection produced by the presence
in the skin of a species of. mite (Acarus scabiei), and when this is
destroyed or removed the disease is at an end ,
HISTORY]
MEDIdlNE
53
" similia similibus curantur," which he explained as depending on
the law that in order to get rid of a disease some remedy must be
given which should substitute for the disease an action dynamically
similar, but weaker. The original malady being thus got rid of,
the vital force would easily be able to cope with and extinguish
the slighter disturbance Caused by the remedy. Something very
similar was held by Brown, who taught that "indirect debility"
was to be cured by a lesser degree of the same stimulus as had
caused the original disturbance. Generally, however, Hahnemann's
views contradict those of Brown, though moving somewhat in the
same plane. In order to select remedies which should fulfil the
indication of producing symptoms like those of the disease, Hahne-
mann made many observations of the action of drugs on healthy
persons. He did not originate this line of research, for it had been
pursued, if not originated, by Haller, and cultivated systematically
by Tommasini, an Italian " contra-stimulist " ; but he carried it
out with much elaboration. His results, nevertheless, were vitiated
by being obtained in the interest of a theory, and by singular want
of discrimination. In his second period he developed the theory
of " potentiality " or dynamization— namely, that medicines gained
in strength by being diluted, if the dilution was accompanied by
shaking or pounding, which was supposed to " potentialize " or
increase the potency of the medicine. On this principle Hahnemann
ordered his original tinctures to be reduced in strength to one-
fiftieth ; these first dilutions again to one-fiftieth ; and so on, even
till the thirtieth dilution, which he himself used by preference, and
to which he ascribed the highest " potentiality.". From a theoretical
point of view Hahnemann's is one of the abstract systems, pretend-
ing to universality, which modern medicine neither accepts nor
finds it worth while to controvert. In the treatment of disease his
practical innovations came at a fortunate time, when the excesses
of the depletory system had only partially been superseded by the
equally injurious opposite extreme of Brown's stimulant treatment.
Hahne-mann's use of mild and often quite inert remedies contrasted
favourably with both of these. Further, he did good by insisting
upon simplicity in prescribing, when it was the custom to give a
number of drugs, often heterogeneous and inconsistent, in the same
prescription- But these indirect benefits were quite independent
of the truth or falsity of his theoretical system.
Positive Progress in the 18th Century.— -In looking back on
the repeated attempts in the 18th century to construct a uni-
versal system of medicine, it is impossible not to regret the waste
of brilliant gifts and profound acquirements which they involved.
It was fortunate, however, that the accumulation of positive
knowledge in medicine did not cease. While Germany and
Scotland, as the chief homes of abstract speculation, gave
birth to most of the theories, progress in objective science
was most marked in other countries — in Italy first, and after-
wards in England and France. We must retrace our steps a
little to enumerate several distinguished names which, from the
nature of the case, hardly admit of classification.
In Italy the tradition of the great anatomists and physiolo-
gists of the 17th century produced a series of accurate observers
and practitioners. Among the first of these were Antonio
Maria Valsalva (1666-1723), still better known as an anatomist;
Giovanni Maria Lancisi (1654-1720), also an anatomist, the
author of a classical work on the diseases of the heart and
aneurisms; and Ippolito Francisco Albertini (1662-1738),
whose researches on the same class of diseases were no less
important.
In France, Jean Baptiste Senac (1693-1770) wrote also an
important work on the affections of the heart. Sauvages,
otherwise F. B. de Lacroix (1706-1767), gave, under the title
Nosologic methodica, a natural-history classification of diseases;
Jean Astruc (1684-1766) contributed to the knowledge of
general diseases. But the state of medicine in that country
till the end of the 18th century was unsatisfactory as compared
with some other parts of Europe.
In England the brilliancy of the early part of the century
in practical medicine was hardly maintained to the end, and
presented, indeed, a certain contrast with the remarkable and
unflagging progress of surgery in the same period. The roll
of the College of Physicians does not furnish many distinguished
names. Among these should be mentioned John Fothergill
(1712-1780), who investigated the " putrid sore throat "
now called diphtheria, and the form of neuralgia popularly
known as tic douloureux. A physician of Plymouth, John
Huyham (1694-1768), made researches on epidemic fevers,
in the spirit of Sydenham and Hippocrates, which are of the
highest importance. William Heberden (1710-1801), a London
physician, called by' Samuel Johnson ultimus Romanorum,
" the last of our learned physicians," left a rich legacy of practical
observations in the Commentaries published after his death.
More important in their results than any of these works were
the discoveries of Edward Jenner (q.v.), respecting the preven-
tion of small-pox by vaccination, in which he superseded the
partially useful but dangerous practice of inoculation, which
had been introduced into England in 1721. The history of
this discovery need not be told here, but it may be pointed out
that, apart from its practical importance, it has had great
influence on the scientific study of infectious diseases. The name
of John Pringle (1707-1782) should also be mentioned as one of
the first to study epidemics of fevers occurring in prisons and
camps. His work, entitled Observations on the Diseases of an
Army, was translated into many European languages and
became the standard authority on the subject.
In Germany the only important school of practical medicine was
that of Vienna, as revived by Gerard van Swieten (1700-1772),
a pupil of Boerhaave, under the patronage of Maria Theresa.
Van Swieten's commentaries on the aphorisms of Boerhaave are
thought more valuable than the original text. Other eminent
names of the same school are Anton de Haen (1704-1776),
Anton Storck (1731-1803), Maximilian Stoll (1742-1788), and
John Peter Frank (1745-1821), father of Joseph Frank, before
mentioned as an adherent of the Brownian system, and like
his son carried away for a time by the new doctrines. This,
the old " Vienna School," was not distinguished for any notable
discoveries, but for success in clinical teaching, and for its
sound method of studying the actual facts of disease during
life and after death, which largely contributed to the establish-
ment of the " positive medicine " of the 19th century.
One novelty, however, of the first importance is due to a
Vienna physician of the period, Leopold Auenbrugger (1722-
1809), the inventor of the method of recognizing diseases of
the chest by percussion. Auenbrugger's method was that
of direct percussion with the tips of the fingers, not that which
is now used, of mediate percussion with the intervention of a
finger or plessimeter; but the results of his method were the
same and its value nearly as great. Auenbrugger's great
work, the Inventum novum, was published in 1761. The new
practice was received at first with contempt and even ridicule,
and afterwards by Stoll and Peter Frank with only grudging
approval. It did not receive due recognition till 1808, when
J. N. Corvisart translated the Inventum novum into French,
and Auenbrugger's method rapidly attained a European repu-
tation. Surpassed, but not eclipsed, by the still more important
art of auscultation introduced by R. T. H. Laennec, it is hardly
too much to say that this simple and purely mechanical invention
has had more influence on the development of modern medicine
than all the " systems " evolved by the most brilliant intellects
of the 1 8th century.
Rise of the Positive School in France. — The reform of medicine
in France must be dated from the great intellectual awakening
caused by the Revolution, but more definitely starts with the
researches in anatomy and physiology of Marie Francois Xavier
Bichat (1771-1802). The importance in science of Bichat's
classical works, especially of the Anatomie ginerale, cannot be
estimated here; we can only point out their value as supplying
a new basis for pathology or the science of disease. Among
the most -ardent of his followers was Francois Joseph Victor
Broussais (1772-1838), whose theoretical views, partly founded
on those of Brown and partly on the so-called vitalist school
of Theophile Bordeu (1722-1776) and Paul Joseph Barthez
(1 734-1806), differed from these essentially in being avowedly
based on anatomical observations. 'Broussais's chief aim was
to find an anatomical basis for all diseases, but he is especially
known for his attempt to explain all fevers as a consequence
Of irritation or inflammation of the intestinal canal (gastro-
ent6rite). A number of other maladies, especially general
diseases and those commonly regarded as nervous, were attri-
buted to the same cause. It would be impossible now to trace
54
MEDICINE
[HISTORY
the steps which led to this wild and long since exploded theory.
It led, among other consequences, to an enormous misuse of
bleeding. Leeches were his favourite instruments, and so much
so that he is said to have used 100,000 in his own hospital
wards during one year. He was equalled if not surpassed
in this excess by his follower Jean Bouiuaud (1796-1881), known
for his important work on heart diseases. Broussais's system,
to which he gave the name of " Medecine physiologique,"
did much indirect good, in fixing attention upon morbid changes
in the organs, and thus led to the rise of the strongly opposed
anatomical and pathological school of Corvisart, Laennec
and Bayle.
Jean Nicolas Corvisart (1755-1821) has already been mentioned'
as the translator and introducer into France of Auenbrugger's work
on percussion. He introduced some improvements in the method,
but the only real advance was the introduction of mediate percus-
sion by Pierre Adolphe Piorry (1794-1879) in 1828. The discovery
had, however, yet to be completed by that of auscultation, or
listening to sounds produced in the chest by breathing, the move-
ments of the heart, &c. The combination of these methods con-
stitutes what is now known as physical diagnosis. Ren6 Theophile
Hyacinthe Laennec (1781-1826) was the inventor of this most
important perhaps of all methods of medical research. Except for
some trifling notices of sounds heard in certain diseases, this method
was entirely new. It was definitely expounded in an almost
complete form in his work De V auscultation mediate, published in
1819. Laennec attached undue importance to the use of the
stethoscope, and laid too much weight on specific signs of specific
diseases ; otherwise his method in its main features has remained
unchanged. The result of his discovery was an entire revolution
in the knowledge of diseases of the chest ; but it would be a mistake
to forget that an essential factor in this revolution was the simul-
taneous study of the condition of the diseased organs as seen after
death. Without the latter, it is difficult to see how the information
conveyed by sounds could ever have been verified. This increase
of knowledge is therefore due, not to auscultation alone, but to
auscultation combined with morbid anatomy. In the case of
Laennec himself this qualification takes nothing from his fame,
for he studied so minutely the relations of post-mortem appearances
to symptoms during life that, had he not discovered auscultation,
his researches in morbid anatomy would have made him famous.
The pathologico-anatomical method was also followed with great
zeal and success by Gaspard Laurent Bayle (1774-1816), whose
researches on tubercle, and the changes of the lungs and other organs
in consumption, are the foundation of most that has been done
since his time. It was of course antecedent to the discovery of
auscultation. Starting from these men arose a school of physicians
who endeavoured to give to the study of symptoms the same pre-
cision as belonged to anatomical observations, and by the combina-
tion of both methods made a new era in clinical medicine. Among
these were Auguste Francois Chomel (1788-1858), Pierre Charles
Alexandre Louis (1787-1872), Jean Cruveilhier (1791-1874) and
Gabriel Andral (1797-1876). Louis, by his researches on pulmo-
nary consumption and typhoid fever, had the chief merit of refuting
the doctrines of Broussais. In another respect also he aided in
establishing an exact science of medicine by the introduction of
the numerical or statistical method. By this method only can the
fallacies which are attendant on drawing conclusions from isolated
cases be avoided; and thus the chief objection which has been
made to regarding medicine as an inductive science has been re-
moved. Louis's method was improved and systematized by
Louis Denis Jules Gavarret (1809-1890); and its utility is now
universally recognized. During this brilliant period of French
medicine the superiority of the school of Paris could hardly be
contested. We can only mention the names of Pierre Bretonneau
(1771-1862), Louis Leon Rostan (1790-1866), Jean Louis D'Alibert
(1766-1837), Pierre Frangois Olive Rayer (1793-1867) and Armand
Trousseau (1801-1866), the eloquent and popular teacher.
English Medicine from 1800 to 1840. — The progress of medicine
in England during this period displays the same characteristics
as at other times, viz. a gradual and uninterrupted development,
without startling changes such as are caused by the sudden
rise or fall of a new school. Hardly any theoretical system is
of English bkth; Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), the grand-
father of the great Charles Darwin, alone makes an exception.
In his Zoonomia (1794) he expounded a theory of life and
disease which had some resemblance to that of Brown, though
arrived at (he says) by a different chain of reasoning.
Darwin's work shows, however, the tendency to connect
medicine with physical science, which was an immediate con-
sequence of the scientific discoveries of the end of the 18th
century, when Priestley and Cavendish in England exercised
the same influence as Lavoisier in France. The English school
of medicine was also profoundly stirred by the teachings of
the two brothers William and John Hunter, especially the
latter — who must therefore be briefly mentioned, though
their own researches were chiefly concerned with subjects
lying a little outside the limits of this sketch. William Hunter
(1718-1783) was known in London as a brilliant teacher of
anatomy and successful obstetric physician; his younger brother
and pupil, John Hunter (1728-1793), was also a teacher of
anatomy, and practised as a surgeon. His immense contribu-
tions to anatomy and pathology cannot be estimated here,
but his services in stimulating research and training investi-
gators belong to the history of general medicine. They are
sufficiently evidenced by the fact that Edward Jenner and
Matthew Baillie were his pupils.
The same scientific bent is seen in the greater attention
paid to morbid anatomy (which dates from Baillie) and the
more scientific method of studying diseases. An instance
of the latter is the work of Robert Willan (1757-1812) on diseases
of the skin — a department of medicine in which abstract and
hypothetical views had been especially injurious. Willan,
by following the natural-history method of Sydenham, at
once put the study on a sound basis; and his work has been
the starting-point of the most important modern researches.
About the same time William Charles Wells (1757-1817), a
scientific investigator of remarkable power, and the author
of a celebrated essay on dew, published observations on altera-
tions in the urine, which, though little noticed at the time,
were of great value as assisting in the important discovery made
some years afterwards by Richard Bright.
These observers, and others who cannot be mentioned here,
belong to the period when English medicine was still little
influenced by the French school. Shortly after 181-5, however,
when ,the continent of Europe was again open to English travel-
lers, many English doctors studied in Paris, and the discoveries
of their great French contemporaries began to be known.
The method of auscultation was soon introduced into England
by pupils of Laennec. John Forbes (1787-1861) in 1824, and
William Stokes (1804-1878) of Dublin in 1825, published
treatises on the use of the stethoscope. Forbes also translated
the works of Laennec and Auenbrugger, and an entire revolution
was soon effected in the knowledge of diseases of the chest.
James Hope (1801-1841) and Peter Mere Latham (1780-1875)
further developed this subject, and the former was also known
for his researches in morbid anatomy. The combination of
clinical and anatomical research led, as in the hands of the
great French physicians, to important discoveries by English
investigators. The discovery by Richard Bright (1789-1858)
of the disease of the kidneys known by his name proved to be
one of the most momentous of the century. It was published
in Reports of Medical Cases 1827-1831. Thomas Addison (1793-
1860) takes, somewhat later, a scarcely inferior place. The
remarkable physiological discoveries of Sir Charles Bell (1774-
1842) and Marshall Hall (1790-1857) for the first time rendered
possible the discrimination of diseases of the spinal cord.
Several of these physicians were also eminent for their clinical
teaching — an art in which Englishmen had up till then been
greatly deficient.
Although many names of scarcely less note might be mentioned
among the London physicians of the early part of the century, we
must pass them over to consider the progress of medicine in Scotland
and Ireland. In Edinburgh the admirable teaching of Cullen Ead
raised the medical faculty to a height of prosperity of which his
successor, James Gregory (1758-1821), was not unworthy. His
nephew, William Pulteney Alison (1790-1859), was even more
widely known. These great teachers maintained in the northern
university a continuous tradition of successful teaching, which the
difference in academical and other circumstances rendered hardly
possible in London. Nor was the northern school wanting in special
investigators, such as John Abercrombie (1 780-1 844), known for
his work on diseases of the brain and spinal cord, published in 1828,
and many others. Turning to Ireland, it should be said that the
Dublin school in this period produced two physicians of the highest
distinction. Robert James Graves (1 796-1 853) was a most eminent
clinical teacher and observer, whose lectures are regarded as the
MODERN PROGRESS]
MEDICINE
55
model of clinical teaching, and indeed served as such to the most
popular teacher of the Paris school in the middle of this century,
Trousseau. William Stokes (1804-1878) was especially known for
his works on diseases of the chest and of the heart, and for his
clinical teaching.
German Medicine from 1800 to 1840. — Of the other countries
of Europe, it is now only necessary to mention Germany. Here
the chief home of positive medicine was still for a long time
Vienna, where the " new Vienna school " continued and sur-
passed the glory of the old. Joseph Skoda (1805-1881) extended,
and in some respects corrected, the art of auscultation as left
by Laennec. Karl Rokitansky (1804-1878), by his colossal
labours, placed the science of morbid anatomy on a permanent
basis, and enriched it by numerous discoveries of detail. Most
of the ardent cultivators of this science in Germany in the next
generation were his pupils. In the other German schools,
though some great names might be found, as Moritz Heinrich
Romberg (1795-1873), the founder of the modern era in the
study of nervous diseases, the general spirit was scholastic
and the result barren till the teaching of one .man, whom the
modern German physicians generally regard as the regenerator
of scientific medicine in their country, made itself felt. Johann
Lucas Schonlein (1703-1864) was first professor at Wurzburg,
afterwards at Zurich, and for twenty years at Berlin (from
1839-1859). Schonlein's positive contributions to medical
science were not large; but he made in 1839 one discovery,
apparently small, but in reality most suggestive, namely,
that the contagious disease of the head called favus is produced
by the growth in the hair of a parasitic fungus. In this may
be found the germ of the startling modern discoveries in parasitic
diseases. His systematic doctrines founded the so-called
" natural history school " ; but his real merit was that of the
founder or introducer of a method. In the words of H. Haser:
" Schonlein has the incontestable merit of having been the first
to establish in Germany the exact method of the French and
the English, and to impregnate this method with the vivifying
spirit of German research." (J. F. P.)
Modern Progress. — In recent times the positive bent of modern
knowledge and methods in other spheres of science and thought,
and especially in biology, has influenced medicine profoundly.
Minuter accuracy of observation was inculcated by the labours
and teaching of the great anatomists of the 17th century;
and, for modern times, experimental physiology was instituted
by Harvey, anatomy having done little to interpret life in its
dynamic aspects. For medicine in England Harvey did what
William Gilbert did for physics and Robert Boyle for chemistry:
he insisted upon direct interrogation of natural processes,
and thereby annihilated the ascendancy of mere authority,
which, while nations were in the making, was an essential
principle in the welding together of heterogeneous and turbulent
peoples. The degradation of medicine between Galen and
Harvey, if in part it consisted in the blind following of the
authority of the former physician, was primarily due to other
causes; and its new development was not due to the discovery
of the experimental method alone: social and political causes
also are concerned in the advance even of the exact sciences 1 .
Among such contributory causes is the more familiar intercourse
of settled nations which we enjoy in our own day; the ideas
of one nation rapidly permeate neighbouring nations, and by
the means of printed books penetrate into remoter provinces
and into distant lands. Hence the description of the advance
of medicine in western Europe and America may for the latest
stage be taken as a whole, without that separate treatment,
nation by nation, which in the history of earlier times was
necessary. Italy lost the leading place she had taken in the
new development of science. The several influences of modern
Germany, France and America became of the first importance
to English medicine; but these tides, instead of pursuing their
courses as independent streams, have become confluent. The
work of Theodor Schwann (1810-1882), Johannes Muller (1809-
1875), Rudolph Virchow and Karl Ludwig (1816-1895) in
Germany, of R. T. H. Laennec and Claude Bernard in France,
was accepted in England, as that of Matthew Baillie, Charles
Bell, Bright, Graves and others of the British school, quickly
made itself felt abroad.
The character of modern medicine cannot be summed in
a word, as, with more or less aptness, that of some previous
periods may be. Modern medicine, like modern Expert-
science, is as boldly speculative as it has been in mental
any age, and yet it is as observant as in any natural- Method
istic period; its success lies in the addition to these Teco ^ azea '
qualities of the method of verification; the fault of previous
times being not the activity of the speculative faculty, without
which no science can be fertile, but the lack of methodical
reference of all and sundry propositions, and parts of proposi-
tions, to the test of experiment. In no department is the
experimental method more continually justified than in that
of the natural history of disease, which at first sight would
seem to have a certain independence of it and a somewhat exclu-
sive value of its own. Hippocrates had no opportunity of
verification by necropsy, and Sydenham ignored pathology;
yet the clinical features of many but recently described diseases,
such, for example, as that named after Graves, and myxoedema,
both associated with perversions of the thyroid gland, lay
as open to the eye of physicians in the past as to our own.
Again, to the naturalist the symptoms of tabes dorsalis were
distinctive enough, had he noted them. No aid to the trained
eye was necessary for such observations, and for many other
such; yet, if we take Sir Thomas Watson (1792-1882) as a
modern Sydenham, we may find in his lectures no suspicion
that there may be a palsy of muscular co-ordination apart from
deprivation of strength. Indeed, it does not seem "to have
occurred to any one to compare the muscular strength in the
various kinds of paraplegia. Thus it was, partly because
the habit of acceptance of authority, waning but far from
extirpated, dictated to the clinical observer what he should
see; partly because the eye of the clinical observer lacked that
special training which the habit and influence of experimental
verification alone can give, that physicians, even acute and
practised physicians, failed to see many and many a sympto-'
matic series which went through its evolutions conspicuously
enough, and needed for its appreciation no unknown aids
or methods of research, nor any further advances of patho-
logy. We see now that the practice of the experimental method
endows with a new vision both the experimenter himself and,
through his influence, those who are associated with him in
medical science, even if these be not themselves actually
engaged in experiment; a new discipline is imposed upon old
faculties, as is seen as well in other sciences as in those
on which medicine more directly depends. And it is not
only the perceptions of eye or ear which tell, but also the
association of concepts behind these adits of the mind. It
was the concepts derived from the experimental methods of
Harvey, Lavoisier, Liebig, Claude Bernard, Helmholtz, Darwin,
Pasteur, Lister and others which, directly or indirectly, trained
the eyes of clinicians to observe more closely and accurately;
and not of clinicians only, but also of pathologists, such as
Matthew Baillie, Cruveilhier, Rokitansky, Bright, Virchow —
to name but a few of those who, with (as must be admitted)
new facilities for necropsies, began to pile upon us discoveries
in morbid anatomy and histology. If at first in the 18th century, ■
and in the earlier 19th, the discoveries in this branch of medical
knowledge had a certain isolation, due perhaps to the pre-
possessions of the school of Sydenham, they soon became the
property of the physician, and were brought into co-ordinatioiF
with the clinical phenomena of disease. The great Morgagni,
the founder of morbid anatomy, himself set the example of
carrying on this study parallel with clinical observation; and
always insisted that the clinical story of the case should be
brought side by side with the revelations of the necropsy. In
pathology, indeed, Virchbw's (1821-1902) influence in the
transfiguration of this branch of science may almost be compared
to that of Darwin and Pasteur in their respective domains.
In the last quarter of the 19th century the conception grew
clearer that morbid anatomy for the most part demonstrates
56
MEDICINE
[MODERN PROGRESS
disease in its static aspects only, and also for the most part
in the particular aspect of final demolition; and it became
manifest as pathology and clinical medicine became more and
more thoroughly integrated, that the processes which initiate
and are concerned in this dissolution were not revealed by the
scalpel.
Again, the physician as naturalist, though stimulated by
the pathologist to delineate disease in its fuller manifestations,
yet was hampered in a measure by the didactic method of
constructing " types " which should command the attention
of the disciple and rivet themselves on his memory; thus too
often those incipient and transitory phases which initiate the
paths of dissolution were missed. Not only so, but the physician,
thus fascinated by " types," and impressed by the .silent monu-
mentsof the pathological museum, was led to localize disease too
much, to isolate the acts of nature, and to forget not only the
continuity of the phases which lead up to the exemplary forms,
or link them together, but to forget also that even between
the types themselves relations of affinity must exist' — and these
oftentimes none the less intimate for apparent diversities of
form, for types of widely different form may be, and indeed
often are, more closely allied than types which have more
superficial resemblance — and to forget, moreover, how largely
negative is the process of abstraction, by which types are
imagined. Upon this too static a view, both of clinical type
and of post-mortem-room pathology, came a despairing spirit,
almost of fatalism, which in the contemplation of organic ruins
lost the hope of cure of organic diseases. So prognosis became
pessimistic, and the therapeutics of the abler men negative,
until fresh hopes arose of stemming the tides of evil at their
earliest flow.
Such was medicine, statically ordered in pathology, statically
ordered in its clinical concepts, when, on the 24th of November
1859, the Origin of Species was published. It is no
Darwin?" exaggeration to say that this epoch-making work
brought to birth a world of conceptions as new as
the work of Copernicus. For the natural philosopher the whole
point of view of things was changed; in biology not only had the
anthropocentric point of view been banished, but the ancient
concept of perpetual flux was brought home to ordinary men, and
entered for good into the framework of thought. The study
of comparative pathology, yet in an inchoate stage, and of
embryology, illuminated and enlarged biological conceptions,
both normal and abnormal; and the ens reale subsislens in cor pore
disappeared for ever — at any rate from physiology and medicine.
Before Darwin — if the name of Darwin may be used to signify
the transformation of thought of which he was the chief artificer
— natural objects were regarded, not in medicine and pathology
only, as a set of hidebound events; and natural operations as
moving in fixed grooves, after a fashion which it is now difficult
for us to realize. With the melting of the ice the more daring
spirits dashed into the new current with such ardour that for
them all traditions, all institutions, were thrown into hotchpot;
even elderly and sob^r physicians took enough of the infection to
liberate their minds, and, in the field of the several diseases and
in that of post-mortem pathology, the hollowness of classification
by superficial resemblance, the transitoriness of forms, and the
• flow of processes, broke upon the view. Thus it came about
not only that classifications of disease based on superficial like-
ness — such as jaundice, dropsy, inflammations-were broken up,
and their parts redistributed, but also that even more set dis-
eases began to lose their settlements, and were recognized as
terms of series, as transitory or culminating phases of perturba-
tions which might be traced to their origins, and in their earlier
stages perhaps withstood.
The doctrine of heredity in disease thus took a larger aspect;
the view of morbid series was no longer bounded even by the
life of the individual; and the propagation of taints, and of mor-
bid varieties of man, from generation to generation proved to be
no mere repetition of fixed features but, even more frequently,
to be modes of development or of dissolution betraying them-
selves often in widely dissimilar forms, in series often extending
over many lives, the terms of which at first sight had seemed
wholly disparate. Thus, for example, as generations succeed
one another, nervous disorders appear in various guise; epilepsy,
megrim, insanity, asthma, hysteria, neurasthenia, a. motley
array at first sight, seemed to reveal themselves as terms of
a morbid series; not only so, but certain disorders of other
systems also might be members of the series, such as certain
diseases of the skin, and even peculiar susceptibilities or immuni-
ties in respect of infections from without. On the other hand,
not a few disorders proved to be alien to classes to which nar-
rower views of causation had referred them; of such are tabes
dorsalis, neuritis, infantile palsy or tetanus, now removed from
the category of primary nervous diseases and placed in one or
other of the class of infections; or, conversely, certain forms of
disease of the joints are now regarded with some certainty as
members of more than one series of diseases chiefly manifest in
the nervous system. In the effects of simpler poisons the recog-
nition of unity in diversity, as in the affiliation of a peripheral
neuritis to arsenic, illustrated more definitely this serial or
etiological method of classifying diseases. On the other hand,
inheritance was dismissed, or survived only as a "suscepti-
bility," intr/e cases of tubercle, leprosy and some other maladies
now recognized as infectious; while in others, as in syphilis, it
was seen to consist in a translation of the infectious element
from parent to offspring. These new conceptions of the multi-
plicity in unity of disease, and of the fluidity and continuity of
morbid processes, might have led to vagueness and over-boldness
in speculation and reconstruction, had not the experimental
method been a,t hand with clues and tests for the several series.
Of this method the rise and wonderful extension of the science of
bacteriology also furnished no inconsiderable part.
In the disease of the scalp called favus, Schonlein had dis-
covered a minute mycelial fungus; a remarkable discovery, for
it was the first conspicuous step in the attribution
of diseases to the action of minute parasites. Schon-
Bacterlo-
logy.
lein thus did something to introduce new and positive
conceptions and exacter methods into Germany; but unfortu-
nately his own mind retained the abstract habit of his country,
and his abilities were dissipated in the mere speculations of
Schelling. Similarly Karl Hoffmann of Wiirzburg wasted his
appreciations of the newer schools of developmental biology in
fanciful notions of human diseases as reversions to normal stages
of lower animals; scrofula being for him a reversion to the insect,
rickets to the mollusc, epilepsy to. the oscillaria, and so forth.
Even that distinguished physiologist Johannes Mtiller remained
a staunch vitalist. Fortunately Germany, which^at. the begin-
ning of the century was delivered over to Brownism and vitalism
and was deaf to Bichat, was rescued from this sort of barrenness
by the brilliant experimental work of Claude Bernard and Pas-
teur in France—work which, as regards the attenuated virus,
was a development of that of Edward Jenner, and indeed of
Schwann, Robert Koch worthily following Pasteur with his work
on the bacillus of anthrax and with his discovery of that of tuber-
culosis; and by the cellular doctrine and abundant labours in
pathology of Virchow. Ludwig Brieger then discovered the
toxins of certain infections; and Emil A. von Behring completed
the sphere of the new study by his discovery of the antitoxins of
diphtheria and tetanus. In practical medicine the subsequent
results of Behring and his followers have in diphtheria attained
a signal therapeutical success. If the striking conceptions of
Paul Ehrlich and Emil Fischer continue to prove as fertile in
inspiring and directing research as at present they seem to ''Ens
another wide sphere of conceptions will be opened out, not in
bacteriology only, but also in biological ., chemistry and in
molecular physics. Again, besides giving us the clue to the
nature of many diseases and to the continuity of many morbid
series, by bacteriology certain diseases, such as actinomycosis,
have been recognized for the first time.
As the prevalence of the conceptions signified and inspired
by the word " phlogiston " kept alive ontological notions of
disease, so the dissipation of vitalistic conceptions in the field
of physics prepared men's minds in pathology for the new
MODERN PROGRESS]
MEDICINE
57
views opened by the discoveries of Pasteur on the side
of pathogeny, and of J. F. Cohnheim (1839-1884) and of
Iliya Metchnikoff on the dynamical side of his-
f B « ersam * tology. Of the older ontological notions of disease
tkms. the strongest were those of the essence of fever and
of the essence of inflammation. Broussais had done
much to destroy the notion of fever as an entity, but by extrava-
gances in other directions he had discredited the value of his
main propositions. Yet, although, as Andral and other French
physicians proved, it was extravagant to say that all fevers
take their origin from some local inflammation, it was true and
most useful to insist, as Broussais vehemently insisted, that
" fever " is no substance, but a generalization drawn from sym-
ptoms common to many and various diseases springing from many
various and often local causes; from causes agreeing perhaps
only in the factor of elevation of the temperature of the body.
To the establishment of this new conception the improvement
and general use of the clinical thermometer gave invaluable ad-
vantages. This instrument, now indispensable in our daily work
at the bedside, had indeed long been known both to physiolo-
gists (Haller) and to clinicians. In the 18th century A. de Haen,
and, in the United Kingdom, George Cleghorn (1716-1789) of
Dublin and James Currie (1756-1805), carried on the use of the
thermometer in fevers; and on the continent of Europe in later
years F. G. F. von Barensprung (1822-1865) and Ludwig Traube
(1818-1876) did the same service; but it is to the work of Karl
August Wunderlich (18 15-1877) that we owe the establishment
of this means of precision as a method of regular observation
both in pathology and in clinical medicine. By his almost
exhaustive comparison of febrile movements as symptomatic
processes Wunderlich dealt the last blow to the expiring doctrine
of the "entity" of " fever "; while on the clinical side Breton-
neau and Louis, in 1862-1872, by their careful clinical and patho-
logical studies of forms of fever, relieved the new doctrine
of the extravagances of Broussais, and prepared the way for
the important distinction of enteric from typhus fever by
A. P. Stewart (1813-1883), William Jenner, William Budd
(1811-1880), Charles Murchison (1830-1879), J. H. F.
Autenrieth (1772-1835), Heinrich Gustav Magnus (1802-1870),
Huss and others. By the learned and accomplished Armand
Trousseau British and German influences were carried into
France.
Meanwhile Cohnheim and Metchnikoff were engaged in
destroying the ontological conception not of fever only, but also
of inflammation, of which, as a local event, an ontological con-
ception was no less strongly implanted. By his researches on
the migration of the white corpuscles of the blood Cohnheim,
on the bases laid by Virchow, brought the processes of inflam-
mation within the scope of the normal, seeing in them but a modi-
fication of normal processes under perturbations of relatively
external incidence; even the formation of abscess was thus
brought by him within the limits of perversion of processes not
differing essentially from those of health; and " new formations,"
" plastic exudations," and other discontinuous origins of an
" essential " pathology, fell into oblivion. And it is not alien
from the present point of view to turn for a moment to the light
thrown on the cardio-arterial pulse and the measurement of its
motions by the more intimate researches into the phenomena of
the circulation by many observers, among whom in the 19th
century James Hope, E. J. Marey (1830-1904) and C. F. W.
Ludwig will always take a leading place. By them the demon-
stration of Harvey that the circulation of the blood is in large
part a mechanical process, and nowhere independent of mechani-
cal laws, was considerably enlarged and extended. In particular
the fluctuations of the pulse in fevers and inflammations were
better understood, and accurately registered; and we can scarcely
realize now that before Harvey the time of the pulse seems
not to have been counted by the watch. Discovery in these
various directions then led physicians to regard fever and inflam-
mation not as separable entities, but as fluctuating symptom-
groups, due to swervings of function from the normal balance
under contingent forces.
As to such reforms in our cbnceptions of disease the advances
of bacteriology profoundly contributed, so under the stress of
consequent discoveries, almost prodigious in their
extent and revolutionary effect, the conceptions of the N ^J%lf~ Q t
etiology of disefse underwent no less a transforma- Etiology.
tion than the conceptions of disease itself. It is
proper- to point out here how intimately a pathology thus
regenerated modified current conceptions of disease, in the
linking of disease to oscillations of health, and the regarding
many diseases as modifications of the normal set up by the
impingement of external causes; not a few of which indeed may
be generated within the body itself — " autogenetic poisoning."
The appreciation of such modifications, and of the working of
such causes, has been facilitated greatly by the light thrown
upon normal processes by advances in physiology; so dependent
is each branch of knowledge upon the advances of contiguous and
incident studies. To biological chemistry we have been deeply
indebted during the latter half of the 19th century. In 1872,
Hoppe-Seyler (1825-1895) gave a new beginning to our know-
ledge of the chemistry of secretion and of excretion; and later
students have increased the range of physiological and patho-
logical chemistry by investigations not only into the several
stages of albuminoid material and the transitions which all food-
stuffs undergo in digestion, but even into the structure of proto-
plasm itself. Digestion, regarded not long ago as little more
than a trituration and " coction " of ingesta to fit them for
absorption and transfer them to the tissues, now appears as an
elaboration of peptones and kindred intermediate products
which, so far from being always bland, and mere bricks and
mortar for repair or fuel for combustion, pass through phases of
change during which they become so unfit for assimilation as to
be positively poisonous. The formation of prussic acid at a
certain period of the vital processes of certain plants may be given
as an example of such phases; and poisons akin to muscarin
seem to arise frequently in development or regression, both in
animals and plants. Thus the digestive function, in its largest
sense, is now seen to consist, not only in preparation and supply,
but in no small measure also of protective and antidotal conver-
sions of the matters submitted to it; coincidently with agents of
digestion proper are found in the circuit of normal digestion
" anti-substances " which neutralize or convert peptones in
their poisonous phases; an autochthonous ferment, such as
rennet for instance, calling forth an anti-rennet, and so on.
Now as our own bodies thus manipulate substances poisonous
and antidotal, if in every hour of health we are averting self-
intoxication, so likewise are we concerned with the various
intruding organisms, whose processes of digestion are as danger-
ous as our own; if these destructive agents, which no doubt are
incessantly gaining admission to our bodies, do not meet within
us each its appropriate compensatory defensive agent, dissolution
will begin. Thus, much of infection and immunity are proving
to be but special cases of digestion, and teleological conceptions
of protective processes are modified.
Under the name of chemotaxis (W. Pfeffer) are designated
certain of the regulative adaptations by which such ends are
attained. By chemical warnings the defensive
processes seem to be awakened, or summoned; and jjegfe^nee,
when we think of the infinite variety of such possible
phases, and of the multitude of corresponding defensive agents,
we may form some dim notion of the complexity of the animal
blood and tissues, and within them of the organic molecules.
Even in normal circumstances their play and counterfllay,
attractive and repellent, must be manifold almost beyond con-
ception; for the body may be regarded as a collective organiza-
tion consisting of a huge colony of micro-organisms become
capable of a common life by common and mutual arrangement
and differentiation of function, and by toleration and utilization
of each other's peculiar products; some organs, such as the Kver,
for example, being credited with a special power of neutralizing
poisons, whether generated under normal conditions or under
abnormal, which gain entrance from the intestinal tract. As a
part of these discoveries has arisen another but kindred doctrine
58
MEDICINE
{MODERN PROGRESS
that of hormones (Starling), juices prepared, not for excretion, not
even for partial excretion, but for the fulfilment of physiological
equilibrium. Thus the reciprocity of the various organs, main-
tained throughout the divisions of physiological labour, is not
merely a mechanical stability; it is also a mutUE§ equilibration in
functions incessantly at work on chemical levels, and on those
levels of still higher complexity which seem to rise as far beyond
chemistry as chemistry beyond physics. Not only are the
secreted juices of specialized cells thus set one against another
in the body, whereby the various organs of the body maintain
a mutual play, but the blood itself also in its cellular and fluid
parts contains elements potent in the destruction of bacteria
and of their secretions. Thus endowed, the blood, unless over-
whelmed by extraordinary invasions, does not fail in stability
and self-purification. So various are the conditions of self-
regulation in various animals, both in respect of their peculiar
and several modes of assimilating different foods, and of protect-
ing themselves against particular dangers from without, that,
as we might have expected, the bloods taken from different
species, or even perhaps from different individuals, are found to
be so divergent that the healthy serum of one species may be,
and often is, poisonous to another; not so much in respect of
adventitious substances, as because the phases of physiological
change in different species do not harmonize; each by its peculiar
needs has been modified until, in their several conditions of
life, they vary so much about the mean as to have become
almost if not quite alien one to another.
In the preservation of immunity then, in its various degrees
and kinds, not only is the chemistry of the blood to be studied,
but also its histology. By his eminent labours in cellular
pathology, Virchow, and Metchnikoff later, gave the last blow
to the mere humoral pathology which, after an almost unchal-
lenged prevalence for some two thousand years, now finds a
resting-place only in our nurseries. Now the cellular pathology
of the blood, investigated by the aid of modern staining methods,
is as important as that of the solid organs; no clinical investigator
— indeed, apart from research, no practitioner at this day — can
dispense with examination of the blood for purposes of diagnosis;
its coagulability and the kinds and the variations of the cells it
contains being evidence of many definitely morbid states of the
body. Again, not only in certain diseases may strange cells be
found in the blood (e.g. in myelogenic leucaemia), but parasites
also, both in man, as those of malaria, of sleeping sickness, of
kala-azar, and in animals, as redwater, yellow fever, n'gana have
been discovered, to the great advantage of preventive medicine.
For some of these, as redwater (pyrosoma), antidotes are already
found; for others, as for yellow fever — of which the parasite is
unknown, but the mode of its transmission, by the mosquito,
discovered (Finlay-Reed) — preventive measures are reducing the
prevalence.
It is obvious that the results of such advances prescribe for
the clinical physician methods which cannot be pursued without
««-w expert assistance; a physician engaged in busy prac-
peaa sm. ^ ce cannc (_ himself undertake even the verifications
required in the conduct of individual cases. Skill in modern
laboratory work is as far out of the reach of the untaught as
performance on a musical instrument. In spite, therefore, of
the encyclopaedic tradition which has persisted from Aristotle
through the Arab and medieval schools down to Herbert Spencer,
it is forced upon us in our own day that in a pursuit so many-
sided as medicine, whether in its scientific or in its practical
aspect, we have to submit more and more to that division of
labour which has been a condition of advance in all other walks
qf life. It is now fully recognized that diseases of infants and
children, of the insane, of the generative organs of women, of
the larynx, of the eye, have been brought successively into the
light of modern knowledge by " specialists," and by them dis-
tributed to the profession; and that in no other way could this
end have been attained. That the division of labour, which may
seem to disintegrate the calling of the physician, really unites
it, is well seen in the clinical laboratories which were initiated
in the later 19th century, and which are destined to a great
future. By the approach of skilled pathologists to the clinical
wards, a link is forged between practitioners and the men of
science who pursue pathology disinterestedly. The first clinical
laboratory seems to have been that of Von Ziemssen (1829-1902)
at Munich, founded in 1885; and, although his example has not
yet been followed as it ought to have been, enough has been done
in this way, at Johns Hopkins University and elsewhere, to
prove the vital importance of the system to the progress of
modern medicine. At the same time provision must be made
for the integration of knowledge as well as for the winning of it
by several adits. A conspicuous example of the incalculable
evil wrought by lack of integration is well seen in the radical
divorce of surgery from medicine, which is one of the most
mischievous legacies of the middle ages — one whose mischief is
scarcely yet fully recognized, and yet which is so deeply rooted
in our institutions, in the United Kingdom at any rate, as to be
hard to obliterate. That the methods and the subject-matter
of surgery and of medicine are substantially the same, and that
the advance of one is the advance of the other, the division being
purely artificial and founded merely on accidents of personal
bent and skill, must be insisted upon at this time of our history.
The distinction was never a scientific one, even in the sense in
which the word science can be used of the middle ages; it origi-
nated in social conceits and in the contempt for mechanical arts
which came of the cultivation of " ideas " as opposed to converse
with " matter," and which, in the dawn of modern methods, led
to the derision of Boyle by Oxford humanists as one given up to
" base and mechanical pursuits." Had physicians been brought
into contact with facts as hard as those faced by the surgeons of
the 1 6th century (cf. Ambrose Pare), their art would not have
lain so long in degradation. It is under this closer occupation
with mechanical conditions that surgery to-day is said — not
without excuse, but with no more than superficial truth — to
have made more progress than medicine. Medicine and surgery
are but two aspects of one art; Pasteur shed light on both surgery
and medicine, and when Lister, his disciple, penetrated into
the secrets of wound fevers and septicaemia, he illuminated
surgery and medicine alike, and, in the one sphere as in the other,
co-operated in the destruction of the idea of " essential fevers "
and of inflammation as an "entity." Together, then, with the
necessary multiplication of specialism, one of the chief lessons
of the latter moiety of the 19th century was the unity of medicine
in all its branches — a unity strengthened rather than weakened
by special researches, such as those into " medical " and " sur-
gical " pathology, which are daily making more manifest the
absurdity of the distinction. Surgeons, physicians, oculists,
laryngologists, gynaecologists, neurologists and the rest, all are
working in allotments of the same field, and combining to a
common harvest.
While pathology then, which is especially the " science of
medicine," was winning territory on one side from physiology,
of which in a sense it is but an aspect, and on another
by making ground of its own in the post mortem room Training.
and museum of morbid anatomy, and was fusing
these gains in the laboratory so as to claim for itself, as a special
branch of science by virtue of peculiar concepts, its due place
and provision — provision in the establishment of chairs and of
special laboratories for its chemical and biological subdivisions —
clinical medicine, by the formal provision of disciplinary classes,
was illustrating the truth of the experience that teaching and
research must go hand-in-hand, the one reinforcing the other:
that no teacher can be efficient unless he be engaged in research^
also; nay, that for the most part even the investigator needs the
encouragement of disciples. Yet it was scarcely until the last
quarter of the 19th century that the apprenticeship system,
which was a mere initiation into the art and mystery of a craft,
was recognized as antiquated and, in its virtual exclusion of
academic study, even mischievous. In place of it, systematic
clinical classes have become part of the scheme of every efficient
school of medicine. A condition of this reform was the need of
a preliminary training of the mind of the pupil in pure science,
even in physics and chemistry; that is to say, before introduction
MODERN PROGRESS]
MEDICINE
5'9
into his professional studies. The founding of new teaching
universities, in which England, and even France, had been at
some disadvantage as compared with Scotland and Germany,
strengthened the movement in favour of enlarging and liberal-
izing technical training, and of anticipating technical instruction
by some broader scientific discipline; though, as in all times of
transition, something was lost temporarily by a departure from
the old discipline of the. grammar school before a new scheme of
training the mind in scientific habits and conceptions was estab-
lished or fully apprehended. Yet on the whole, even from the
beginning, the revolt was useful in that it shook the position of
the " learned physician," who took a literary, fastidious and
meditative rather than an experimental interest in his profession,
and, as in great part a descendant of the humanists, was never
in full sympathy with experimental science. At the risk no
doubt of some defects of culture, the newer education cleared the
way for a more positive temper, awoke a new sense of accuracy
and of verification, and created a sceptical attitude towards all
conventions, whether of argument or of practice. Among the
drawbacks of this temper, which on the whole made for progress,
was the rise of a school of excessive scepticism, which, forgetting
the value of the accumulated stores of empiricism, despised
those degrees of moral certainty that, in so complex a study and
so tentative a practice as medicine, must be our portion for the
present, and even for a long future, however great the triumphs
of medicine may become. This scepticism took form in the
school, most active between i860 and 1880, known as the
school of " Expectant Medicine." These teachers, genuinely
touched with a sense of the scantiness of our knowledge, of our
confidence in abstract terms, of the insecurity of our alleged
" facts," case-histories and observations, alienated from tradi-
tional dogmatisms and disgusted by meddlesome polypharmacy
— enlightened, moreover, by the issue of cases treated by means
such as the homoeopathic, which were practically " expectant "
— urged that the only course open to the physician, duly
conscious of his own ignorance and of the mystery of nature,
is to put his patient under diet and nursing, and, relying on the
tendency of all equilibriums to recover themselves under
perturbation, to await events (Vis medicatrix naturae). Those
physicians who had occupied themselves in the study of the
exacter sciences, or more closely or more exclusively of the
wreckage of the post mortem room, were the strongest men of
this school, whether in England or abroad.
But to sit down helpless before human suffering is an un-
endurable attitude. Moreover, the insight into origins, into
initial morbid processes revealed by the pathologists,
peutic's. awoke more and more the hope of dealing with the
elements of disease, with its first beginnings; and in
the field of therapeutics, chemical and biological experiment, as in
the case of digitalis, mercury and the iodides, was rapidly sim-
plifying remedies and defining their virtues, so that these agents
could be used at the bedside with more precision. Furthermore,
the aversion from drugging had the advantage of directing men's
minds to remedies taken from the region of the physical forces,
of electricity (G. B. Duchenne, 1806-1875), of gymnastics (Ling,
1776-1839), of hydropathy (V. Priessnitz), of massage (Weir
Mitchell), of climate (James Clarke), of diet (R. B. Todd, King
Chambers, &c), and even of hypnotism (James Braid 1795?-
1860), while with the improvement of the means of locomotion
came the renewal of the old faith and the establishment of new
methods in the use of mineral springs. These and such means,
often in combination, took much of the place formerly given to
the use of drugs.
Again, a like spirit dictated the use of the physical or " natu-
ral " methods on a larger scale in the field of prevention.
From the new regard given by physiologists and
pathologists to the study of origins, and in the new
hopes of thus dealing with disease at its springs, not in indivi-
duals only but in cities and nations, issued the great school
of Preventive Medicine, initiated in England — E. A. Parkes
(1819-1876), J. Simon, Sir B. W. Richardson (1828-1896), Sir
H. W. Acland (1815-1900), Sir G. Buchanan (1831-1895), and
Hygkae,
forwarded in Germany by Max von Pettenkofer (1818-1901).
Hygiene became for pathology what " milieu " is for physiology.
By the modification of physical conditions on a national scale a
prodigious advance was made in the art of preventing disease.
The ghastly roll of infantile mortality was quickly purged of its
darkest features (Ballard and others); aided by bacteriology,
sanitary measures attained some considerable degree of exact-
ness; public medicine gained such an ascendancy that special
training and diplomas were offered at universities; and in 1875
a consolidated act was passed for the United Kingdom establish-
ing medical officers of health, and responsible lay sanitary
authorities, with no inconsiderable powers of enforcing the
means of public health in rural, urban, port and other jurisdic-
tions, with summary methods of procedure. A department of
public health was formed within the precincts of the Local
Gpvernment Board; government laboratories were established,
and machinery was devised for the notification of infectious
diseases. The enormous growth of towns during the second
half of the 19th century was thus attended with comparative
safety to these great aggregates of mankind; and the death-rates,
so far from being increased, relatively decreased in substantial
proportions. In 1878 an act was passed giving like powers in
the case of the infectious diseases of animals. The establishment
in England of the Register of qualified practitioners and of the
General Medical Council (in 1858) did something, however
imperfectly, to give unity to the profession, unhappily bisected
by " the two colleges"; and did much to organize, to strengthen
and to purify medical education and qualification. In 1876
women were admitted to the Register kept by the Council.
In 1871 the Anatomical Act of 1832 was amended; and in 1876
the Vivisection Act was passed, a measure which investigators
engaged in the medical sciences of physiology and pathology
resented as likely to prevent in England the advance of know-
ledge of living function, both in its normal balance and in its
aberrancies, and. moreover to slacken that habit of incessant
reference of propositions to verification which is as necessary to
the clinical observer as to the experimentalist. However the
opinion of later generations may stand in respect of the Vivisec-
tion Act. it will surely appear to them that the other acts, largely
based upon the results of experimental methods, strengthening
and consolidating the medical profession, and fortifying the
advance of medical education, led directly to a fundamental
change in the circumstances of the people in respect of health.
The intelligent classes have become far better educated in the
laws of health, and less disposed to quackery; the less intelligent
are better cared for and protected by municipal and central
authority. Thus the housing of the poor has been improved,
though this difficult problem is yet far from solution; not the
large towns only, but the larger villages also, are cleansed and
drained; food has been submitted to inspection by skilled officers;
water supplies have been undertaken on a vast scale; personal
cleanliness has been encouraged, and with wonderful success
efforts have been made to bring civilized Europe back from the
effects of a long wave of Oriental asceticism, which in its neglect
and contempt of the body led men to regard filth even as a
virtue, to its pristine cleanliness under the Greeks and Romans.
During the latter half of the 19th century the death-rate of many
towns was reduced by something like 50%. Some plagues,
such as typhus fever, have been dispelled; others, such as enteric
fever, have been almost banished from large areas; and there is
much reason to hope that cholera and plague, if introduced,
could not get a footing in western Europe, or in any case coulcl be
combated on scientific principles, and greatly reduced. Tem-
perance in the use of alcohol has followed the demonstration not
only of its unimportance as a food or tonic, but also of its harm-
fulness, save in very small quantities. In the earlier part of the
19th century, and in remoter districts even in its later years, the
use of alcohol was regarded not as a mere indulgence, but as
essential to health; the example of teetotallers, as, seen in private
life and in the returns of the insurance offices, has undermined
this prepossession. From the time of Plato medicine has been
accused of ministering to the survival of unfit persons, and to
6o
MEDICINE
^6Di*tM%©GRBSS
their propagation of children. But bodily defect is largely a
result of evil circumstances, in the prevention of which the
physician is not unsuccessfully engaged, and the growth of
sympathy means a stronger cement of the social structure. At
any rate the mean standard of health will be raised, perhaps
enormously.
In the tropics, as well as in Europe, such methods and Such
researches threw new light upon the causes and paths of the
terrible infections of these climates. In 1880, two years before
Koch discovered the bacillus of tubercle, C. L. A. Laveran
(b. 1845) discovered the parasite of malaria, and truly conceived
its relations to the disease; thus within two years were made two
discoveries either of which was sufficient to make the honour of a
century. Before the end of the 19th century this discovery of
the blood parasite of malaria was crowned by the hypothesis of
Patrick Manson, proved by Ronald Ross, that malaria is propa-
gated by a certain genus of gnat, which acts as an intermediate
host of the parasite. Cholera (Haffkine) and yellow fever
are yielding up their secrets, and falling under some control.
The 20th century, by means of this illumination of one of the
darkest regions of disease, may diminish human suffering enor-
mously, and may make habitable rich and beautiful regions of
the earth's surface now, so far as man's work is concerned, con-
demned to sterility. Moreover, freedom of trade and of travel
has been promoted by a reform of the antiquated, cumbrous,
and too often futile methods of quarantine — a reform as yet very
far from complete, but founded upon a better understanding of
the nature and propagation of disease.
Special Departments. — Hitherto we have presented a survey
of the progress of the science and practice of medicine on general
, -,, lines; it remains to give some indication of the
Infections, .' .. .. . . , ,..
advance of these subjects of study and practice in
particular departments. As regards infections, it is not to be
supposed that our knowledge of these maladies has been ad-
vanced by pathology and bacteriology only. In the clinical
field also it has received a great enlargement. Diphtheria, long
no doubt a plague among mankind, was not carefully described
until by Pierre Bretonneau in 1826; and since his time our con-
ception of this disease has been extended by the study of later,
secondary and incidental phases of it, such as neuritis, which had
always formed part of the diphtheritic series, though the con-
nexion had not been detected. Influenza, again, was well known
to us in 1836-1840, yet clinical observers had not traced out those
sequels which, in the form of neuritis and mental disorder, have
impressed upon our minds the persistent virulence of this infec-
tion, and the manifold forms of its activity. By the discovery
of the bacillus of tubercle, the physician has been enabled to
piece together a long and varied list of maladies under several
names, such as scrofula and lupus, many of them long suspected
to be tuberculous, but now known to belong to the series. It is
on clinical grounds that beriberi, scarlet fever, measles, &c, are
recognized as belonging to the same class, and evolving in phases
which differ not in intimate nature but in the more superficial
and inessential characters of time, rate and polymorphism; and
the impression is gaining strength that acute rheumatism belongs
to the group of the infections, certain sore throats, chorea and
other apparently distinct maladies being terms of this series.
Thus the field of disease arising not from essential defect in the
body, but from external contingencies, is vastly enlarging;
while on the other hand the great variability of individuals in
susceptibility explains the very variable results of such extrinsic
causes. Coincidently therewith, the hope of neutralizing infec-
tions by fortifying individual immunity has grown brighter,
for it appears that immunity is not a very radical character,
but one which, as in the case of vaccination, admits of modifica-
tion and accurate adjustment in the individual, in no long time
and by no very tedious methods. Evidence is accumulating
which may end in the explanation and perhaps in the prevention
of the direst of human woes — cancer itself, though at present
inquiry is being directed rather to intrinsic than to extrinsic
causes.
When, leaving the infections, we look for evidence of progress
in our knowledge of more or less local diseases, we may begin with
the nervous system. It is in this department, from its abstruse-
ness and complexity, that we should expect the Neurolo -y
advance of anatomy and physiology — normal and
morbid — to be most delayed. If we consult the medical works
even of the middle of the 19th century we shall find that, in the
light of the present time, accurate knowledge in this sphere,
whether clinical, pathological or therapeutical, could scarcely
be said to exist. Even in the hands of J. A. Lockhart Clarke
(181 7-1880), one of the earliest investigators of nervous
pathology, the improvement of the compound microscope had
not attained the achromatism, the penetration and the magnifi-
cation which have since enabled J. L. C. Schroeder-van der Kolk
(1797-1862), Albert von Kolliker, Santiago Ramon y Cajal,
C. Golgi (b. 1844) and others to reveal the minute anatomy of
the nervous centres; while the discrimination of tissues and mor-
bid products by stains, as in the silver and osmic acid methods,
and in those known by the names of Carl Weigert or Marchi,
had scarcely begun. In England the Hospital for the Paralysed
and Epileptic was founded in 1859, where Charles E. Brown-
Sequard (1817-1894), J. Hughlings-Jackson, Thomas Buzzard,
Henry C. Bastian (b. 1837), Sir W. R. Gowers and David Ferrier
(b. 1843) found an adequate field for the clinical and patho-
logical parts of their work. In France, in the wards of the Hdtel
Dieu, Guillaume Benjamin Duchenne (1806-1875), in association
with Trousseau and in his private clinic, pursued his memorable
clinical and therapeutical researches into the diseases of the
nervous system; and Jean M. Charcot (1825-1893) in that great
asylum for the wreckage of humanity — the Salpetriere-^-dis-
covered an unworked mine of chronic nervous disease. M. H.
Romberg (1795-1873) and Theodor Meynert (1833-1892) also
were pioneers in the study of nervous diseases, but it was not
till later in the century that Germany took a high place in this
department of medicine. The discoveries of the separate paths
of sensory and motor impulses in the spinal cord, and conse-
quently of the laws of reflex action, by Charles Bell and Marshall
Hall respectively, in their illumination of the phenomena of
nervous function, may be compared with the discovery in the
region of the vascular system of the circulation of the blood; for
therein a key to large classes of normal and aberrant functions
and a fertile principle of interpretation were obtained. Nor
was the theory of reflex action confined to the more " mechan-
ical " functions. By G. H. Lewes and others the doctrine of
" cerebral reflex " was suggested, whereby actions, at first
achieved only by incessant attention, became organized as
conscious or subconscious habits; as for instance in the playing
on musical or other instruments, when acts even of a very
elaborate kind may directly follow the impulses of sensations,
conscious adaptation and the deliberate choice of means being
thus economized. This law has important ethical and political
bearings; but in the province of disease this advance of what may
be compared to. the interlocking of points and signals has had
wide influence not only in altering our conceptions of disease,
but also in enlarging our views of all perturbations of function.
The grouping of reflex " units," and the paths wherein impulses
travel and become associated, have been made out by the physio-
logist (Sherrington and others) working on the healthy animal,
as well as by the record of disease; and not of spontaneous disease
alone, for the artificial institution of morbid processes in animals
has led to many of these discoveries, as in the method of A. V.
Waller (1816-1870), who tracked the line of nervous strands by
experimental sections, and showed that when particular strands*
are cut off from their nutritive centres the consequent degenera-
tion follows the line of the separated strands. By similar
methods nature, unassisted, betrays herself but too often; in
many instances — probably originating primarily in the nervous
tissues themselves — the course of disease is observed to follow
certain paths with remarkable consistency, as for instance in
diseases of particular tracts of the spinal cord. In such cases the
paths of degeneration are so neatly defined that, when the tissues
are prepared after death by modern methods, they are plainly
to be seen running along certain columns, the subdivisions
MODERN PROGRESS]
MEDICINE
6.1
of which in the normal state may hardly be distinguishable one
from another: some run in strips along the periphery of the
spinal cord, at its anterior, middle or posterior segments, as the
case may be; in other cases such strips occur within its substance,
whether along columns of cells or of white matter. It is needless
to point out how such paths of disease, in their association with
characteristic symptoms, have illuminated the clinical features
of disease as well as the processes of normal function.
Not, however, all diseases of the nervous system conduct them-
selves on these definite paths, for some of them pay no attention
to the geography of structure, but, as one may say, blunder
indiscriminately among the several parts; others, again, pick
out particular parts definitely enough, but not parts immediately
continuous, or even contiguous. Diseases of the latter kind are
especially interesting, as in them we see that parts of the
nervous structure, separated in space, may nevertheless be asso-
ciated in function; for instance, wasting of a group of muscles
associated in function may depend on a set of central degenera-
tions concurring in parts whose connexion, in spite of dissociation
in space, we thus perceive. The undiscriminating diseases, on
the other hand, we suspect not to be primarily of nervous
origin, but to depend rather on the agency of other constituent
tissues of this system, as of the blood-vessels or the connective
elements. Thus, arguing inversely, we may learn something of
the respective natures of these influences and of the way in
which the nervous system is affected secondarily.
Yet even the distribution of toxic matters by the blood is not
necessarily followed by general and indiscriminate injury to the
nervous elements. In infantile palsy, for example,
Anchorage an( j j n ^ a jj es dorsalis, there is good reason to believe
Molecules, that, definitely as the traces of the disease are
found in certain physiologically distinct nervous
elements, they are due nevertheless to toxic agents arriving
by way of the blood. Here we enter upon one of the most
interesting chapters of disorders and modes of disorder of this
and of other systems. It has come out more and more clearly
of late years that poisons do not betray even an approximately
indifferent affinity for all tissues, which indeed a little reflection
would tell us to be a priori improbable, but that each tends
to fix itself to this cell group or to that, picking out parts
for which they severally have affinities. Chemical, physio-
logical and pathological research is exploring the secret of
these more refined kinds of " anchorage " of molecules. In
1868 Drs A. Crum Brown and T. R. Fraser proved that by
substitution of molecules in certain compounds a stimu-
lant could be converted into a sedative action; thus by
the addition of the methyl group CH2 to the molecule
of strychnine, thebaine or brucine, the tetanizing action
of these drugs is converted into a paralysing action. The
number of these instances, and the variety of them, are now
known to be very large; and it is supposed that what is true of
these simpler agents is true also of far more elaborate phases
of vital metabolism. Now, what is remarkable in these and
many other reactions is not only that effects apparently very
opposite may result from minute differences of molecular con-
struction, but also that, whatever the construction, agents, not
wholly indifferent to the body or part, tend to anchor themselves
to organic molecules in some way akin to them. Highly com-
plex as are all animal tissues, or nearly all, yet in this category
of high complexity are degrees higher and higher again of which
we can form little conception, so elaborate they are, so peculiar
in their respective properties, and probably so fugitive. It is
this wide range of dynamic peculiarities above the common
range of known physical and chemical molecules which excites
our wonder; and a reflection of these peculiar properties is seen
in their affinities for this or that toxic or constructive agent,
whereby the peculiarity, for example, of a particular kind of
nerve cell may be altered, antagonized, reinforced or converted.
On the other hand, the reagents by which such modifications
are apt to be produced are not necessarily simple; many of them
likewise are known to be of very high degrees of complexity,
approaching perhaps in complexity the molecules to which they
are akin. Of such probably are the toxins and antitoxins of
certain infections, which, anchoring themselves not by any means
indiscriminately, but to particular and concerted molecules, by
such anchorage antagonize them or turn them to favourable
or unfavourable issues. Toxins may thus become so closely
keyed into their corresponding atom groups, as for instance in
tetanus, that they are no longer free to combine with the anti-
toxin; or, again, an antitoxin injected before a toxin may antici-
pate it and, preventing its mischievous adhesion, dismiss it for
excretion. In the mutual behaviour of such cells, toxins, and
antitoxins, and again of microbes themselves, we may demon-
strate even on the field of the microscope some of the modes
of such actions, which seem to partake in great measure at any
rate of a chemical quality (agglutinins, coagulins, chemotaxis).
It is convenient here to add that such reactions and modifica-
tions, if more conspicuous in the nervous system, are of course
not confined to it, but are concerned in their degree in all the
processes of metabolism, being most readily traced by us in the
blood.
Many other diseases formerly regarded as primarily diseases
of the nervous system are not such; but, by means of agents
either introduced into the body or modified there, establish
themselves after the affinities of these in contiguous associated
parts of the structure, as in vascular, membranous or connective
elements, or again in distant and peripheral parts; the perturba-
tions of nervous function being secondary and consequential.
Of such are tetanus and diphtheria, now known to be due to
the establishment from without of a local- microbic infection,
from which focus a toxin is diffused to the nervous matter.
The terrible nervous sequels of some forms of inflammation
of the membranes of the brain, again, are due primarily to
microbic invasion rather of the membranes than of their
nervous contents; and many other diseases may be added to
this list. The grave palsies in such diseases as influenza,
diphtheria, beriberi, or ensuing on the absorption of lead, are
in the main not central, but due to a symmetrical peripheral
neuritis.
Among diseases not primarily nervous, but exhibited in certain
phenomena of nervous disorder, are diseases of the blood-vessels.
Much light has been thrown upon the variations of
arterial and venous blood pressures by Karl Ludwig Jf«" vM »«
(1816-1895) and his many followers: by them not Disease.
only the diseases of the circulatory system itself are
elucidated, but also those of other systems — the nervous, for
instance — which depend intimately on the mechanical integrity
of the circulation of the blood as well as on the chemical integrity
of the blood itself. With changes of the pressures of the blood
in arteries, veins or capillaries, and in the heart itself and its
respective chambers, static changes are apt to follow in these
parts; such as degeneration of the coats of the arteries, due
either to the silent tooth of time, to persistent high blood pres-
sures, or to the action of poisons such as lead or syphilis. Syphi-
litic lesion of the arteries, and likewise of other fibrous tissues,
often involves grave consequential damage to nervous structures
fed or supported by such parts. Some of the most successful
of the advances of medicine as a healing art have followed the
detection of syphilitic disease of the vessels, or of the supporting
tissues of nervous centres and of the peripheral nerves; so thaf>
by specific medication, the treatment of paralytic, convulsive,
and other terrible manifestations of nervous disease thus second'
arily induced is now undertaken in early stages with definite
prospect of cure.
Not of less importance in this respect, and in other disorders
many of them of grave incidence, is the knowledge of the pheno-
mena of embolism and of thrombosis, also gained during the latter
half of the 19th century — W. S. Kirkes (1823-1864), R. Virchow.
By embolism is meant the more or less sudden stoppage of a
vessel by a plug of solid matter carried thither by the current
of the blood; be it a little clot from the heart or, what is far
more pernicious, an infective fragment from some focus of
infection in the body, by which messengers new foci of infection
may be scattered about the body. Thrombosis is an accident
62
MEDICINE
[MODERN PROGRESS
of not dissimilar character, whereby a vessel is blocked not by a
travelling particle, but by a clotting of the blood in situ, probably
on the occasion of some harm to the epithelial lining of the vessel.
Such injuries are apt to occur in syphilitic endarteritis, or senile
arterial decay, whereby an artery may be blocked permanently,
as if with an embolus, and the area supplied by it, in so far as it
was dependent upon this vessel, deprived of nutrition. These
events, although far more mischievous in the brain, the functions
of which are far-reaching, and the collateral circulation of which
is ill-provided, are seen very commonly in other parts.
It is in the structure of the brain itself that modern research
has attained the most remarkable success. In 1861 an alleged
" centre " of speech was detected, by a combination of clinical
and pathological researches, by Paul Broca (1824-1880). By
these means also, in the hands of Hughlings- Jackson, and more
conclusively by experimental research initiated by G. T.
Fritsch (b. 1838) and T. E. Hitzig (b. 1838), but pursued inde-
pendently and far more systematically and thoroughly by
David Ferrier (b. 1843) and his disciples, it was proved that the
cerebrum is occupied by many such centres or exchanges, which
preside over the formulation of sensations into purposive groups
of motions — kinaesthesis of H. Charlton Bastian (b. 1837). The
results of these experimental researches by many inquirers into
the constitution of the brain have transformed our conceptions of
cerebral physiology, and thrown a flood of light on the diseases
of the brain. Not only so, but this mapping of the brain in
areas of function now often enables the clinical physician to
determine the position of disease; in a certain few cases of
tumour or abscess, so precisely that he may be enabled to open
the skull above the part affected and to extirpate it — opera-
tions which are surely a triumph of science and technical skill
(Lister, W. MacEwen, V. Horsley).
The remarkable discovery of the dual nature of the nervous
system, of its duplex development as a lower and upper system of
" neurons," has shed much light upon the problems of practical
medicine, but this construction is described under Brain;
Neuropathology; Muscle and Nerve, &c.
In mental diseases little of first-rate importance has been done.
The chief work has been the detection of chronic changes in the
cortex of the brain, by staining and other histological methods,
in degenerative affections of this organ — Theodor Meynert
(1833-1892), W. Griesinger (1817-1868), Bevan Lewis — and
in the separation from insanity due to primary disease or defect
of nerve elements of such diseases as general paralysis of the
insane, which probably arise, as we have said, by the action of
poisons on contiguous structures — such as blood-vessels and
connective elements — and invade the nervous matter second-
arily. Some infections, however, seem to attack the mental
fabric directly; intrinsic toxic processes which may be suspected
on the detection of neurin and cholin in the fluids of the brain
(F. W. Mott). Truer conceptions of normal psychology have
transformed for us those of the morbid — P. Pinel (1 745-1826),
Griesinger, Henry Maudsley (b. 1835), Mercier, Krapelin, Rivers
— and indicated more truly the relations of sanity to insanity.
In the treatment of insanity little has been done but to com-
plete the non-restraint system which in principle belongs to
the earlier part of the 19th century (Pinel, Tuke, R. G. Hill,
J. Conolly). An enormous accumulation of lunatics of all
sorts and degrees seems to have paralysed public authorities,
who, at vast expense in buildings, mass them more or less indis-
criminately in barracks, and expect that their sundry and difficult
disorders can be properly studied and treated by a medical
superintendent charged with the whole domestic establishment,
with a few young assistants under him. The life of these insane
patients is as bright, and the treatment as humane, as a barrack
life can be; but of science, whether in pathology or medicine,
there can be little. A considerable step in advance is the estab-
lishment by the London County Council of a central laboratory
for its asylums, with an eminent pathologist at its head: from
this laboratory valuable reports are in course of issue. Provision
for the reception and treatment of insanity in its earliest and more
curable stages can scarcely be said to exist. Sufferers from
mental disease are still regarded too much as troublesome
persons to be hidden away in humane keeping, rather than as
cases of manifold and obscure disease, to be studied and treated
by the undivided attention of physicians of the highest skill.
The care and education of idiots, initiated by Guggenbuhl and
others, is making way in England, and if as yet insufficient, is
good of its kind.
By the genius of Rene Theophile Laennec (1781-1826),
diseases of the lungs and heart were laid on a foundation so broad
that his successors have been occupied in detail and refinement
rather than in reconstruction. In heart disease the chief work
of the latter half of the 19th century was, in the first quarter,
such clinical work as that of William Stokes and Peter Mere
Latham (1789-1875); and in the second quarter the fuller com-
prehension of the vascular system, central and peripheral, with
its cycles and variations of blood pressure, venous and arterial.
Moreover, the intricacies of structure and function within the heart
itself have been more fully discriminated (W. H. Gaskell, Aschoff,
A. Keith, Wenkebach, J. Mackenzie). By the greater thorough-
ness of our knowledge of the physics of the circulation — Etienne
Marey (b. 1830), Karl Ludwig (1816-1895), Leonard Hill — we
have attained to a better conception of such events as arterial
disease, apoplexy, " shock," and so forth; and pharmacologists
have defined more precisely the virtues of curative drugs. To
the discovery of the parts played in disease by thrombosis and
embolism we have referred above. With this broader and more
accurate knowledge of the conditions of the health of the
circulation a corresponding efficiency has been gained in the
manipulation of certain remedies and new methods of treatment,
of heart diseases, especially by baths and exercises.
As regards pulmonary disease, pneumonia has passed more and
more definitely into the category of the infections: the modes of
invasion of the lungs and pleura by tuberculosis has been more
and more accurately followed; and the treatment of these
diseases, in the spheres both of prevention and of cure, has under-
gone a radical change. Instead of the close protection from the
outer air, the respirators, and the fancy diets of our fathers, the
modern poitrinaire camps out in the open air in all weathers, is
fed with solid food, and in his exercise and otherwise is ruled with
minute particularity according to the indications of the clinical
thermometer and other symptoms. The almost reckless reliance
on climate, which, at Davos for instance, marked the transition
from the older to the modern methods, has of late been sobered,
and supplemented by more systematic attention to all that con-
cerns the mode of life of the invalid. The result is that, both in
physicians and in the public, a more hopeful attitude in respect
of the cure of phthisis has led to a more earnest grappling with
the infection in its earliest stages and in every phase, with a cor-
respondingly large improvement in prevention and treatment.
Indeed, in such early stages, and in patients who are enabled to
command the means of an expensive method of cure, phthisis is
no longer regarded as desperate; while steps are being taken to
provide for those who of their own means are unable to obtain
these advantages, by the erection of special sanatoriums on a
more or less charitable basis. Perhaps no advance in medicine
has done so much as the study of tuberculosis to educate the
public in the methods and value of research in medical subjects,
for the results, and even the methods, of such labours have been
brought home not only to patients and their friends, but also to
the farmer, the dairyman, the butcher, the public carrier, and,
indeed, to every home in the land.
It was in the management of pleurisies that the aid of surgical
means first became eminent in inward disease. In the treatment
of effusions into the pleura and, though with less advantage, of
pericardial effusions, direct mechanical interference was practised
by one physician and another, till these means of attaining rapid
and complete cure took their places as indispensable, and were
extended from thoracic diseases to those of the abdominal and
other inner parts formerly beyond the reach of direct therapeutics.
Lord Lister's discoveries brought these new methods to bear with
a certainty and a celerity previously undreamed of; and many
visceral maladies, such as visceral ulcers, disease of the pancreas,
MODERN PROGRESS]
MEDICINE
63
stone of the kidney or gall-bladder, perityphlitis, ovarian dropsy,
which in the earlier part of the 19th century were either fatal or
crippling, are now taken promptly and safely in hand, and dealt
with successfully. Even for internal cancer cure or substantial
relief is not infrequently obtained. We have said that this
advance is often quoted, not very wisely, to signify that in
modern progress " medicine " has fallen behind surgery — as if
the art of the physician were not one and indivisible. That
certain Fellows of the College of Physicians (especially in gynae-
cology) have personally taken operative procedures in hand
is some good omen that in time the unreal and mischievous
schism between medicine and surgery may be bridged over.
In the department of abdominal disease progress has been
made, not only in this enormous extension of means of cure by
operative methods, but also in the verification of diagnosis. The
first recognition of a disease may be at a necropsy, but then
usually by irresponsible pathologists; it is another matter when
the physician himself comes under rebuke for failing to seize a
way to cure, while the chance remained to him, by section of the
abdomen during life. The abdomen is still " full of surprises ";
and he who has most experience of this deceptive region will have
least confidence in expressing positive opinions in particular
cases of disease without operative investigation. Besides the
attainments mentioned above, in respect of operative progress,
many important revisions of older rule-of-thumb knowledge have
come about, and not a few other substantial discoveries. Among
the revisions may be adduced some addition to our knowledge
of dyspepsia, attained by analytic investigations into the
contents of the stomach at various stages of digestion, and by
examining the passage of opaque substances through the primae
viae by the Rontgen rays. Thus the defects, whether of this
secretion or of that, and again of motor activity, the state of the
valvular junctions, the volume of the cavities, and their position
in the abdomen, may be ascertained, and dealt with as far as may
be; so that, although the fluctuations of chemical digestion are
still very obscure, the application of remedies after a mere tradi-
tional routine is no longer excusable. In our conceptions of the
later stages of assimilation and of excretion, with the generation
of poisons (auto-intoxication) in the intestinal tract, there is still
much obscurity and much guess-work; yet in some directions
positive knowledge has been gained, partly by the physiologist,
partly by the physician himself. Of such are the better under-
standing of the functions of the liver in normal catabolism, in the
neutralization of poisons absorbed from the intestines or else-
where, in the causation of jaundice, and in diabetes [Bernhardt
Naunyn (b. 1839) and F. W. Pavy]. Nor must we forget the
unfolding of a new chapter of disease, in the nosology of the
pancreas. In diabetes this organ seems to play a part which
is not yet precisely determined; and one fell disease at least has
been traced to a violent access of inflammation of this organ,
caused perhaps by entry of foreign matters into its duct. The
part of the pancreas in digestion also is better understood. The
part of the spleen in the motley group of dyspepsias and anaemias,
conspicuous as it often is, still remains very enigmatic.
The peritoneum is no longer regarded with awe as inviolable;
by modern methods, if not as manageable as other lymphatic
sacs, it is at any rate accessible enough without considerable risk
to life. Not only in its bacteriological relations are the conditions
of peritonitis recognized in its various kinds, but also the state
known as " shock " turns out to be quasi-mechanical, and
avoidable by measures belonging in considerable part to this
category. Thus, by the avoidance both of toxaemia and of shock,
peritonitis and other dangers of the abdomen, such as strangu-
lations or intussusceptions of the bowels, formerly desperate,
can in many cases be dealt with safely and effectively.
Our knowledge of diseases of the kidneys has made no great
advance since the time of Richard Bright. In the sphere of
physiology and in the interpretation of associated arterial
diseases much obscurity still remains; as, for instance, concerning
the nature of the toxic substances which produce those bilateral
changes in the kidneys which we' call Bright's disease, and bring
about the " uraemia " which-is characteristic of it. Lardaceous
disease, however, here and in other regions, now appears to be
due to the specific toxins of pyogenetic micro-organisms. In
stone of the kidney a great advance has been made in treatment
by operative means, and the formation of these stones seems
to recent observers to depend less upon constitutional bent
(gout) than upon unhealthy local conditions of the passages,
which in their turn again may be due to the action of micro-
organisms.
To Thomas Addison's descriptions of certain anaemias, and
of the disease of the suprarenal capsules which bears his name,
something has been added; and W. Hunter's researches on
the severer anaemias are doing much to elucidate these subtle
maladies. And on the influence of these inconspicuous bodies
and of the pituitary body in sustaining arterial blood pressures
physiologists have thrown some important light.
The secret of the terrible puerperal septicaemia was read by
J. P. Semmelweiss (g.v.), wherein he proved himself to be the
greatest of Lister's forerunners (see Lister).
The diseases peculiar to -women (see Gynaecology) have
received attention from early times, but little progress had been
made in their interpretation till the 19th century. In the
middle part of the century, by a natural exaggeration of the
importance of newly-discovered local changes in the pelvic
organs, much harm was done to women by too narrow an atten-
tion to the site, characters and treatment of these; the meddle-
someness of the physician becoming in the temperament of woman
a morbid obsession. To James Matthews Duncan (1826-1890)
we chiefly owe a saner and broader comprehension of the
relative importance of the local and the general conditions
which enter into the causation of uterine and ovarian disorders.
In operations for diseases of the pelvis, ovarian dropsy, cancer
of the uterus, and other grave diseases of the region, success has
been stupendous.
In the subject of diseases of the skin much has been done, in
the minuter observation of their forms, in the description of
forms previously unrecognized, and in respect of bacterial and
other causation and of treatment. The comparison of observa-
tions in various climates and peoples has had some weight;
while in the better knowledge of their causes their treatment has
found permanent advantage. Not only is the influence of bacteria
in the causation of many of them newly revealed, but it is now
recognized also that, even in skin diseases not initiated by micro-
bic action, microbes play a considerable and often a determining
part in their perpetuation; and that the rules of modern aseptic
surgery are applicable with no little success to skin therapeutics.
We have learned that " constitutional " causes play a smaller
part in them than was supposed, that a large number of diseases
of the skin, even if initiated by general disorder, are or soon
become local diseases, being, if not initiated by local infection
yet perpetuated thereby, so that, generally speaking, they are to
be cured by local means.
The diseases of children have not lacked the renewed attention,
the successful investigation, and the valuable new lights which
have been given to other departments of medicine. That infan-
tile paralysis is an infection, and that its unhappy sequels are
now treated with more hope of restoration, has been indicated
already. Infantile diarrhoea has also been recognized as a
common infection (Ballard), and the means of its avoidance and
cure ascertained. The conditions of diet and digestion in children
are now far better understood, and many of their maladies,
formerly regarded as organic or incomprehensible, are cured^or
prevented by dietetic rules. Rickets, scurvy and " marasmus ''
may be instanced as diet diseases in children. Acute inflamma-
tion of the ear, with its alarming extensions to the cerebral
cavity, is now dealt with successfully by surgical means, and
infected sinuses or even encephalic abscesses are reached and
cleansed. The origins, kinds and processes of meningitis are
more clearly distinguished, and referred each to its proper cause
— for the most part bacterial.
As by the discovery of stethoscopy by Laennec a new field of
medical science and art was opened up, so, more recently,
inventions of other new methods of investigation in medicine
6 4
MEDINA, j. T.— MEDINA
have opened to us other fields of little less interest and im-
portance. Of such is the ophthalmoscope, invented by H.
von Helmholtz in 1851. By the revelations of this
agnos s. j nstrument not on jy have the diseases of the eye been
illuminated, but much light has been thrown also upon the part of
the eye in more general maladies; as, for instance, in syphilis,
in diabetes, in kidney diseases, and in diseases of the brain—
F. C. Donders (1818-1889), Alfred von Grafe (1830-1899) and
others. A remarkable help to the cure of headaches and
wider nervous disorders has come out of the better appreciation
and correction of errors of refraction in the eye. Radiography
has done great things for surgery; for medicine its services are
already appreciable, and may prove more and more valuable
hereafter. In 1879 the use of the spectroscope in medicine
was pointed out by Dr Charles A. MacMunn (b. 1852).
By E. du Bois-Reymond, Robert Remak (181 5-1865), Carlo
Matteucci (1811-1868), Guillaume Duchenne (1806-1875), the
value of electricity in medicine, greater in diagnosis perhaps' than
in therapeutics, was demonstrated. By the sphygmograph (E. J.
Marey, 1863) attention was drawn to the physical features of
the circulation, to the signs of degeneration of the arterial tree,
and less definitely to the fluctuations of blood pressure; but
as we have said under the consideration of diseases of the heart,
the kymographs of Ludwig and his pupils brought out these
fluctuations far more accurately and completely. By these, and
other instruments of precision, such as the thermometer, of which
we have already spoken, the eminently scientific discipline of the
measurement of functional movements, so difficult in the complex
science of biology, has been cultivated. By the laryngoscope,
invented about 1850 by Manuel Garcia the celebrated singing-
master, and perfected by Johann Czermak (1828-1873) and
others, the diseases of the larynx also have been brought into the
general light which has been shed on all fields of disease; and
many of them, previously known more or less empirically,
submitted to precise definition and cure. Of such we may cite
tuberculosis of the larynx, formerly as incurable as distressing;
and " adenoids " — a disease revealed by intrascopic methods —
which used grievously to thwart and stifle the growth both of
mind and body in children, are now promptly removed, to the
infinite advantage of the rising generation. To the value of
stains in clinical diagnosis, especially in investigation of perver-
sions of the blood in many maladies, we have already made
some reference. The discovery of the Rontgen rays has also
extended the physician's power of vision, as in cases of aortic
aneurysm, and other thoracic diseases.
By photography and diagrammatic records the clinical work
of hospital wards has been brought into some better definition,
and teaching made more accurate and more impressive. The
separation of the alkaloids belongs rather to the earlier part of
the 10th century, but the administration of these more accurate
medications by means of hypodermic injection (see Thera-
peutics) belongs to the latter. The ancient practice of trans-
fusion has been placed on a more intelligible footing, and by the
method of saline injections made more manageable as a means
of relief or even of cure. Finally, calculation by statistics
(William Farr, Karl Pearson, and others) has been brought into
line with other scientific methods: the method is a difficult one,
and one full of pitfalls for the unwary, yet when by co-operation
of physician and mathematician its applications have been
perfected its services will appear more and more indispensable.
Among the achievements of the medicine of the 19th century
the growth of the medical press must not be forgotten. In
England, by the boldness of the Lancet (founded in 1823), the
tyranny of prescription, inveterate custom, and privilege abused
was defied and broken down; freedom of learning was regained,
and promotion thrown open to the competent, independently
of family, gild and professional status. For the record and
diffusion of rapidly growing knowledge, learned societies, univer-
sities and laboratories, greatly increased in number and activity,
issue their transactions in various fields; and by means of year-
books and central news-sheets the accumulation of knowledge is
organized and made accessible.
It is interesting to find that, with all this activity in the present
reformed methods of research and verification are not confined to.
the work of the passing day; in the brilliant achievements of
modern research and reconstruction the maxim that " Truth is
the daughter of Time " has not been forgotten. In the field of
the History of Medicine the work of scholars such as Francis
Adams of Banchory (1796-1861), William A. Greenhill (1814-
1894) and C. Creighton in England, Maximilien P. Littr6 (1801-
1881) and Charles V. Daremberg (1817-1872) in France, and
Heinrich Haser (1811-1888) and August Hirsch, Diels, Welt-
mann and Julius Pagel in Germany, will prove to our children
that tradition was as safe in our hands as progress itself.
(T. C. A.)
Bibliography.— Osier and McCrae, Modem Medicine; F. T
Roberts, The Practice of Medicine (1909); Hermann Nothnagel,
Internationale Beitrdge zur inneren Medicin (1902); Ed. Brovardel,
Traiti de midecine (1895-1902); T. D. Savill, Clinical Medicine
(19O9); W. Osier, The Principles and Practice of Medicine (1909);
Allbutt and Rolleston, A System of Medicine (1906-1910) ; Sir
Patrick Manson, Tropical Medicine (1907) ; Frederick Taylor, A
Manual of the Practice of Medicine (1908).
MEDINA, JOSE TORIBIO (1852- ), Chilean bibliographer,
was born at Santiago, and was educated for the bar. His first
publication, when a very young man, was a metrical translation
of Longfellow's Evangeline. When twenty-two he was appointed
secretary to the legation at Lima. After his return he published
a history of Chilean literature (1878), and a work upon the
aboriginal tribes (1884). In this latter year he was appointed
secretary of legation in Spain, and availed himself of the oppoiT
tunity of examining the treasures of the old Spanish libraries.
These researches, repeated on subsequent visits to Spain, and
also to France and England, enriched him with a mass of historical
and bibliographical material. Among his publications may be
mentioned the Biblioteca hispano-americana, a catalogue of all
books and pamphlets relating to Spanish America printed in
Spain; the Biblioteca hispano-chilena, a similar work, com-
menced in 1897; the standard and magnificent history of printing
in the La Plata countries (1892); comprehensive works on the
Inquisition in Chile, Peru and the Philippines; and the standard
treatise on South American medals (1899). In addition, Sefior
Medina produced the fullest bibliographies yet attainable of
books printed at Lima, Mexico and Manila, and a number of
memoirs and other minor writings. No other man had rendered
anything like the same amount of service to the literary history
and bibliography of the Spanish colonies.
MEDINA, or rather Al-Medina (the city), or Medinat Rasul
Allah (the city of the apostle of God), a town of the Hejaz in
Arabia, about 820 m. by rail S.S.E. of Damascus, in 25 N.,
40 E., 1 the refuge of Mahomet on his emigration from Mecca,
and a renowned place of Moslem pilgrimage, consecrated by the
possession of his tomb. The name Medina goes back to the
Koran (sur. xxxiii. 60) ; the old name was Yathrib, the Lathrippa
of Ptolemy and lathrippa of Stephanus Byzantius.
Medina stands in a basin at the northern extremity of an
elevated plain, on the western skirt of the mountain range which
divides the Red Sea coast-lands from the central plateau of
Arabia. At an hour's distance to the north it is dominated by
Mount Ohod, an outlying spur of the great mountains, the scene
of the well-known battle (see Mahomet), and the site of the
tomb and mosque of the Prophet's uncle Hamza. To the east
the plain is bounded by a long line of hills eight or ten hours
distant, over which the Nejd road runs. A number of torrent
courses (of which Wadi Kanat to the north, at the foot of Mount
Ohod, and W. Akik, some miles to the south, are the most
important) descend from the mountains, and converge in the
neighbourhood of the town to unite farther west at a place called
Zaghaba, whence they descend to the sea through the " mountains
of the Tehama " — the rough country between Medina and its
1 This is a very rough estimate. The road from Yambu on the
Red Sea, which runs somewhat north of east, is by Burton's estimate
132 m. From Medina to Mecca by the inland or high road he
makes 248 m. The usual road near the coast by Rabigh and
Khulesa and thence to W. Fatima cannot be very different in
length. Caravans traverse it in about ten or eleven days.
MEDINA
65
port of Yambu — under the name of W. Idam. Southwards from
Medina the plain extends unbroken, but with a slight rise, as
far as the eye can reach. The convergence of torrent-courses
in the neighbourhood of Medina makes this one of the best-
watered spots in northern Arabia. The city lies close to one of
the great volcanic centres of the peninsula, which was in violent
eruption as late as a.d. 1266, when the lava stream approached
within an hour's distance of the walls, and dammed up W. Kanat.
The result of this and older prehistoric eruptions has been to
confine the underground water, so important in Arabian tillage,
which can be reached at any pojnt of the oasis by sinking deep
wells. Many of the wells are brackish, and the natural fertility
of the volcanic soil is in many places impaired by the salt with
which it is impregnated; but the date-palm grows well every-
where, and the groves, interspersed with gardens and cornfields,
which surround the city on all sides except the west, have been
famous from the time of the Prophet. Thus situated, Medina
was originally a city of agriculturists, not like Mecca a city of
merchants; nor, apart from the indispensable trade in provisions,
has it ever acquired commercial importance like that which
Mecca owes to the pilgrimage. 1 Landowners and cultivators
are still a chief element in the population of the city and suburbs.
The latter, who are called Nakhawila, and more or less openly
profess the Shi'aopinions, marry only among themselves. The
townsmen proper, on the other hand, are a very motley race. 2
New settlers remain behind with each pilgrimage; attracted by
the many offices of profit connected with the mosque, the stipends
paid by the sultan to every inhabitant, and the gains to be derived
by pilgrim-cicerones (Muzawwirs) or by those who make it a
business to say prayers at the Prophet's mosque for persons who
send a fee from a distance, as well as the alms which the citizens
are accustomed to collect when they go abroad, especially in
Turkey. The population of the city and suburbs may be from
16,000 to 20,000.
The city proper is surrounded by a solid stone wall, 3 with
towers and four massive gateways of good architecture, forming
an irregular oval running to a kind of angle at the north-west,
where stands the castle, held by a Turkish garrison. The houses
are good stone buildings similar in style to those of Mecca; the
streets are narrow but clean, and in part paved. 4 There is a
copious supply of water conducted from a tepid source (ez-
Zarka) at the village of Kuba, 2 m. south, and distributed in under-
ground cisterns in each quarter. 5 The glory of Medina, and the
only important building, is the mosque of the Prophet, in the
eastern part of the city, a spacious enclosed court between 400
and 500 ft. in length from north to south, and two-thirds as much
in breadth. The minarets and the lofty dome above the sacred
graves are imposing features; but the circuit is hemmed in by
houses or narrow lanes, and is not remarkable except for the
principal gate (Bab al-Salam) at the southern end of the west
front, facing the sacred graves, which is richly inlaid with marbles
and fine tiles, and adorned with golden inscriptions. This gate
leads into a deep portico, with ten rows of pillars, running along
the southern wall. Near the farther end of the portico, but not
1 The pilgrimage to Medina, though highly meritorious, is not
obligatory, and it is not tied to a single season: so that there is no
general concourse at one time, and no fair like that of Mecca.
2 A small number of families in Medina still claim to represent
the ancient Ansar, the "defenders" of Mahomet; there are also
some Siddiqiyah, claiming descent from Abu Bekr. But in fact
the old population emigrated en masse after the sack of Medina by
Moslim in 683, and passed into Spain in the armies of Musa. In
the 13th century one old man of the Khazraj and one old woman
of the Aus tribe were all that remained of the old stock in Medina
(Maqqari, i. 187; Dozy, Mus. d'Espagne, i. in). The aristocratic
family of the Beni Hosain, who claim descent from the martyr of
Kerbela, and so from the Prophet, have apparently a better estab-
lished pedigree.
* According to Ibn Khallikan (Slane's trans, iii. 927) the walls
are of the 12th century, the work of Jamal ud-DIn al-Ispahani.
4 TheBalat or great paved street of Medina, a very unusual
feature in an Eastern town, dates from the 1st century of Islam.
(See Wiistenfeld's abstract of Samhudi, p. 115.)
' Kuba is famous as the place where the Prophet lived before he
entered Medina, and the site of the first mosque in which he prayed.
It lies amidst orchards in the richest part of the oasis.
xvm. 3
adjoining the walls, is a sort of doorless house or chamber hung
with rich curtains, which is supposed to contain the graves of
Mahomet, Abu Bekr and Omar. To the north of this is a smaller
chamber of the same kind, draped in black, which is said to
represent the tomb of Fatima. Both are enclosed with an
iron railing, so closely interwoven with brass wire- work that
a glimpse of the so-called tombs can only be got through
certain apertures, where intercessory prayer is addressed to
the prophet, and pious salutations are paid to the other
saints. 6 The portico in front of the railing is not ineffective,
at least by nightlight. It is paved with marble, and in the
eastern part with mosaic, laid with rich carpets; the southern
wall is clothed with marble pierced with windows of good stained
glass, and the great railing has a striking aspect; but an air of
tawdriness is imparted by the vulgar painting of the columns,
especially in the space between the tomb and the pulpit, which
has received, in accordance with a tradition of the Prophet, the
name of the Garden (rauda), and is decorated with barbaric
attempts to carry out this idea in colour. 7 The throng of visitors
passing along the south wall from the Bab al-Salam to salute
the tombs is separated from the Garden by an iron railing. The
other three sides of the interior court have porticoes of less depth
and mean aspect, with three or four rows of pillars. Within the
court are the well of the # Prophet, and some palm-trees said to
have been planted by Fatima; this " grove " is separated from
the rest of the court by a wooden partition.
The original mosque was a low building of brick, roofed with
palm-branches, and much smaller than the present structure.
The wooden pulpit from which Mahomet preached appears to
have stood on the same place with the present pulpit in the
middle of the south portico. The dwelling of the Prophet and
the huts of his women adjoined the mosque. Mahomet died in
the hut of Ayesha and was buried where he, died; Abu Bekr and
Omar were afterwards buried beside him. In A.D. 711 the mosque,
which had previously been enlarged by Omar and Othman,
was entirely reconstructed on a grander scale and in. Byzantine
style by Greek and Coptic artificers at the command of the caliph
Walid and under the direction of Omar Ibn Abd-al-Aziz. The
enlarged plan included the huts above named, which were pulled
down. Thus the place of the Prophet's burial was brought
within the mosque; but the recorded discontent of the city at this
step shows that the feeling which regards the tomb as the great
glory of the mosque, and the pilgrimage to it as the most meri-
torious that can be undertaken except that to Mecca, was still
quite unknown. It is not even certain what was done at this
time to mark off the graves. Ibn 'Abd Rabbih, in the beginning
of the 10th century Clfcd, Cairo ed., iii. 366), describes the
enclosure as a hexagonal wall, rising within three cubits of the
ceiling of the portico, clothed in marble for more than a man's
height, and above that height daubed with the unguent called
khaluk. This may be supplemented from Istakhri, who calls
it a lofty house without a door. That there are no gravestones
or visible tombs within is certain from what is recorded of
occasions when the place was opened up for repairs. Ibn Jubair
(p. 193 seq.) and Samhudi speak of a small casket adorned with
silver, fixed in the eastern wall, which was supposed to be opposite
the head of the Prophet, while a silver nail . in the south wall
indicated the point to which the corpse faced, and from which
the salutation of worshippers was to be addressed (Burton
misquotes). The European fable (mentioned and refuted, e.g. in
Histoire des Arabes par l'abb6 de Marigny, t. i. p. 46, Paris,_i75o)
of the coffin suspended by magnets is totally unknown to Moslem
tradition. The smaller chamber of Fatima is comparatively
modern. In the time of Ibn Jubair and of Ibn Batuta (unless
6 The space between the railing and the tomb is seldom entered
except by the servants of the mosque. It contains the treasures
of the mosque in jewels and plate, which were once very consider-
able, but have been repeatedly plundered, last of all by the Wahhabls
in the beginning of the 19th, century.
7 The word rauda also means a mausoleum, and is applied by
Ibn Jubair to the tomb itself. Thus the tradition that the space
between the pulpit and the tomb was called by the Prophet one of
I the gardens of Paradise probably arose from a mistake.
II
66
MEDINA— MEDINA SIDONIA, DUKE OF
the latter, as is so often the case, is merely copying his prede-
cessor) there was only a small marble trough north of the rauda
(or grave) which " is said to be the house of Fatima or her
grave, but God only knows." It is more probable that Fatima
was buried in the Baki, where her tomb was also shown in the
1 2th century (Ibn Jubair, pp. 198 seq.).
The mosque was again extended by the caliph Mahdi (a.d. 781)
and was burned down in 1256. Of its appearance before the fire
we have two authentic accounts by Ibn 'Abd Rabbih early in
the 10th century, and by Ibn Jubair, who visited it in 1184. The
old mosque had a much finer and more regular appearance than
the present one; the interior walls were richly adorned with marble
and mosaic arabesques of trees and the like, and the outer walls
with stone marquetry; the pillars of the south portico (seventeen
in each row) were in white plaster with gilt capitals, the other
pillars were of marble. Ibn 'Abd Rabbih speaks of eighteen
gates, of which in Ibn Jubair's time, as at present, all but four
were walled up. There were then three minarets. After the
fire which took place just at the time of the fall of the caliphate,
the mosque long lay in a miserable condition. Its repair was
chiefly due to the Egyptian sultans, especially to JCait Bey,
whose restoration after a second fire in 1481 amounted almost to
a complete reconstruction. Of the old building nothing seems
to have remained but some of the columns and part of the
walls. The minarets have also been rebuilt and two new ones
added. The great dome above the tomb, the railing round it,
and the pulpit, all date from K&it Bey's restoration.
The suburbs, which occupy as much space as the city proper,
and are partly walled in, lie south-west of the town, from which
they are separated by an open space, the halting-place pi cara-
vans. Through the suburbs runs the watercourse called Wadi
Buthan, a tributary of W. Kanat, which the Yanbu' road crosses
by a stone bridge. The suburbs are the quarter of the peasants.
Thirty or forty families with their cattle occupy a single court-
yard (hosh), and form a kind of community often at feud with
its neighbours. The several clans of Medina must have lived
in much the same way at the time of the Prophet. The famous
cemetery called Baki" el-Gharkad, the resting-place of a multi-
tude of the " companions " of the Prophet, lies immediately to
the west of the city. It once contained many monuments, the
chief of which are described by Ibn Jubair. Burckhardt in 1815
found it a mere waste, but some of the mosques have since been
rebuilt.
History.— The story of the Amalekites in Yathrib and of their
conquest by the Hebrews in the time of Moses is purely fabulous
(see Noldeke, Uber die Atnalekiler, 1864, p. 36). The oasis, when
it first comes into the light of history, was held by Jews, among
whom emigrants from Yemen afterwards settled. From the
time of the emigration of Mahomet (a.d. 622) till the Omayyads
removed the seat of empire from Medina to Damascus, the town
springs into historic prominence as the capital of the new power
that so rapidly changed the fate of the East. Its fall was not
less rapid and complete, and since the battle of Harra and the
sack of the city in 683 it has never regained political importance
(see Caliphate, B. §§ 1, 2, &c). Mahomet invested the country
round Medina with an inviolable character like that of the Haram
round Mecca; but this provision has never been observed with
strictness. After the fall of the caliphs, who maintained a
governor in Medina, the native amirs enjoyed a fluctuating
measure of independence, interrupted by the aggressions of the
sherlfs of Mecca, or controlled by an intermittent Egyptian
protectorate. The Turks after the conquest of Egypt held
Medina for a time with a firmer hand; but their rule grew weak,
and was almost nominal long before the Wahhabis took the city
in 1804. A Turko-Egyptian force retook it in 181 2, and the
Turks now maintain a pasha with a military establishment, while
the cadi and chief agha of the mosque (a eunuch) are sent from
Constantinople. In late years the influence of the Turkish
government has been much strengthened, an important factor in
its consideration being the construction of the railway from Syria
to the Hejaz. Railway communication between Damascus and
Medina was effected in 1908.
Authorities. — Medina has been described from personal observa-
tion by Burckhardt, who visited it in 1815, and Burton, who made
the pilgrimage in 1853. Sadlier on his journey from Katif to Yambu
(1819) was not allowed to enter the holy city. Burckhardt was
prevented by ill-health from examining the city and country with
his usual thoroughness. Little is added to our information by the
report of 'Abd el-Razzaq, who performed the pilgrimage in 1 878,
on a medical commission from the English government. The
chief Arabic authority besides Ibn 'Abd Rabbih and Ibn Jubair
is Samhudi, of whose history Wustenfeld published an abstract
in the Gottingen Abhandlungen, vol. ix. (1861). It goes down to
the end of the 15th century. The topography of the country about
Medina is interesting both historically and geographically; Bakrl,
Yaqut and other Arabic geographers, supply much material on this
topic. Some good information concerning Medina is contained
in the 2nd volume of Doughty's Travels in Arabia Deserta.
(W. R. S.)
MEDINA, a village of Orleans county, in north-west New York,
U.S.A., about 40 m. N.E. of Buffalo, and on Oak Orchard Creek.
Pop. (1900), 4716, (857 foreign-born); (1905, state census), 5114;
(1910) 5683. It is served by the New York Central & Hudson
River railroad, by the Buffalo, Lockport & Rochester (inter-
urban) railway, and by the Erie Canal. On Oak Orchard Creek
and near the city are electric power plants, at the Medina Falls
and at a large storage dam (60 ft. high ) for water power, built in
1902. In the neighbourhood are extensive apple, peach and pear
orchards; and vegetables, especially beans, are grown. There
are valuable quarries of Medina sandstone, a good building-,
paving- and flag-stone, varying in colour from light grey to
brownish red, readily shaped and split, and less likely than
limestone to crack or than granite to wear slippery; it was
first found at Medina in 1837. There was a saw-mill on the
creek near here in 1805, but the place was little settled before
1824, and its growth was due to the Erie Canal. It was incor-
porated in 1832.
MEDINA SIDONIA, DON ALONSO PEREZ DE GUZMAN EL
BUENO, 7TH Duke of (1550-1615), the commander-in-chief of
the Spanish Armada, was born on the 10th of September 1550.
He was the son of Don Juan Claros de Guzman, eldest son of
the 6th duke, and of his wife Dona Leonor Manrique de Zuniga y
Sotomayor. His father died in 1555, and Don Alonso became
duke, and master of one of the greatest fortunes in Europe, on
the death of his grandfather in 1539. The family of Guzman
was originally lords of Abiados, on the southern slope of the
Picos de Europa in the hill country of Leon. The name is
believed to be a contraction or corruption of Gundamaris, i.e.
son of Gundamar. An early family tradition represents them
as having come from Britain, and they may have descended from
one of the Scandinavian invaders who attacked the north coast
of Spain in the 10th century. It is in the 10th century that they
first appear, and they grew great by the reconquest of the
country from the Mahommedans. The branch to which the
dukes of Medina Sidonia belonged was founded by Alonso Perez
de Guzman (1256-1309), surnamed El Bueno, the good, in the
sense of good at need, or stout-hearted. In 1296 he defended
the town of Tarifa on behalf of Sancho IV., and when the be-
siegers threatened to murder one of his sons whom they held as
a prisoner if he did not surrender, he allowed the boy to be killed.
He was rewarded by great grants of crown land. The duchy of
Medina Sidonia, the oldest in Spain, was conferred by John II.
in 1445 oh one of his descendants, Juan Alonzo de Guzman,
count Of Niebla. The addition " El Bueno " to the family name
of Guzman was used by several of the house, which included
many statesmen, generals and colonial viceroys. 1 The 7_th
duke was betrothed in 1565 to Ana de Silva y Mendoza, who waS
then four years of age, the daughter of the prince of Eboli. In
1572 when the duchess was a little more than ten years of age,
the pope granted a dispensation for the consummation of the
marriage. The scandal of the time, for which there appears to
be no foundation, accused Philip II. of a love intrigue with the
princess of Eboli. The unvarying and unmerited favour he
showed the duke has been accounted for on the ground that he
1 The titles and grandeeship passed, in accordance with Castilian
law, by marriage of a daughter and heiress in 1777, to the marquess
of Villafranca, and have since remained in that house.
MEDINA SIDONIA— MEDITERRANEAN SEA
67
took a paterual interest in the duchess. Don Alonso, though he
bore the name of El Bueno, was a man of mean spirit. He made
no serious effort to save his mother-in-law from the persecution
she suffered at the hands of Philip II. His correspondence is
full of whining complaints of poverty, and appeals to the king
for pecuniary favours. In 1581 he was created a knight of the
Golden Fleece, and was named captain-general of Lombardy.
By pressing supplications to the king he got himself exempted
on the ground of poverty and poor health. Yet when the
marquess of Santa Cruz (q.v.) died, on the 9th of February 1588,
Philip insisted on appointing him to the command of the Armada.
He was chosen even before Santa Cruz was actually dead, and
was forced to go in spite of his piteous declarations that he had
neither experience nor capacity, and was always sick at sea. His
conduct of the Armada justified his plea. He was even accused
of showing want of personal courage, and was completely broken
by the sufferings of the campaign, which turned his hair grey.
The duke retained his posts of " admiral of the ocean " and
captain-general of Andalusia in spite of the contempt openly
expressed for him by the whole nation. When an English and
Dutch armament assailed Cadiz in 1596 his sloth and timidity
were largely responsible for the loss of the place. He was held
up to ridicule by Cervantes in a sonnet. Yet the royal favour
continued unabated even under the successor of Philip II. In
1606 the obstinacy and folly of the duke caused the loss of a
squadron which was destroyed near Gibraltar by the Dutch.
He died in 161 5.
See Cesario Duro, La Armada invincible (Madrid, 1884), which
gives numerous references to authorities.
MEDINA SIDONIA, or Medinasidonia, a town of southern
Spain, in the province of Cadiz, 21 m. by road E.S.E. of Cadiz.
Pop. (1900), 11,040. Medina Sidonia is built on an isolated
hill surrounded by a cultivated plain. It contains a fine Gothic
church, several convents, and the ancestral palace of the dukes of
Medina Sidonia. It has a small agricultural trade, chiefly in
wheat, olives and oats.
Medina Sidonia has been identified by some with the Asido
of Pliny, but this is uncertain. Under the Visigoths the place
was erected into a bishopric (Assidonia), and attained some
importance; in the beginning of the 8th century it was taken by
Tariq. In the time of Idrisi (12th century) the province of
Shaduna or Shidona included, among other towns, Seville and
Carmona; later Arab geographers place Shadtina in the province
of Seville.
MEDIOLANUM, or Mediolanium (mod. Milan, q.v.), an ancient
city of Italy, and the most important in Gallia Transpadana.
Livy attributes its foundation to the Galli Insubres under
Bellovesus after their defeat of the Etruscans, in the time of the
older Tarquin. According to other authorities, the Etruscan
city of Melpum which preceded it was destroyed in 396 B.C.
Objects of the Bronze age have been found outside the city on
the south. The name itself is Celtic. The Romans defeated the
Insubres in 225-222 B.C., and stormed Mediolanum itself in the
latter year. Its inhabitants rebelled some twenty years later in
the Hannibalic War, but were defeated and finally reduced to
obedience in 196 B.C. They probably acquired Latin rights in
89, and full civic rights in 49 B.C., as did those of the other towns
of Gallia Transpadana. It appears later on (but not before the
2nd century a.d.) to have become a colony. It acquired a
certain amount of literary eminence, for we hear of youths going
from Comum to Mediolanum to study. In Strabo's time it was
on an equality with Verona, but smaller than Patavium, but in
the later times of the empire its importance increased. At the
end of the 3rd century it became the seat of the governor of
Aemilia and Liguria (which then included Gallia Transpadana
also, thus consisting of the 9th and nth regions of Augustus),
and at the end of the 4th, of the governor of Liguria only,
Aemilia having one of its own thenceforth. From Diocletian's
time onwards the praefectus praetorio and the imperial vicar of
Italy also had their seat here: and it became one of the principal
mints of the empire. The emperors of the West resided at
Mediolanum during the 4th century, until Honorius preferred
Ravenna, and in 402 transferred his court there. Its importance,
described in the poems of Ausonius, is demonstrated by its
many inscriptions, and the interest and variety of their contents,
In these the rarity of the mention of its chief magistrates is
surprising: and it is not impossible that owing to its very impor-.
tance the right of appointing them had been taken from it (as
Mommsen thinks). The case of Ravenna is not dissimilar.
The inscriptions indicate a strong Celtic character in the popular
tion. Procopius speaks of it as the first city of the West, after
Rome, and says that when it was captured by the Goths in 539,
300,000 of the inhabitants were killed. It was an important
centre of traffic, from which roads radiated in several directions
— as railways do to-day — to Comum, to the foot of the Lacus
Verbanus (Lago Maggiore) , to Novaria and Vercellae, to Ticinum,
to Laus Pompeia and thence to Placeritia and Cremona, and to
Bergomum. None of these roads had an individual name, so
far as we know. To its secular power corresponds the indepen-
dent position which its Church took in the time of St Ambrose
(q.v.), bishop of Milan in 374-397, who founded the church
which bears his name, and here baptized St Augustine in A.D.
387, and whose rite is still in use throughout the diocese. Theo-
dosius indeed did penance here at Ambrose's bidding for his
slaughter of the people of Thessalonica. After his death the
period of invasions begins; and Milan felt the power of the Huns
under Attila (452), of the Heruli under Odoacer (476) and of the
.Goths under Theodoric (493). When Belisarius was sent by
Justinian to recover Italy, Datius, the archbishop of Milan,
joined him, and the Goths were expelled from the city. But
Uraia, nephew of Vitigis the Gothic king, subsequently assaulted
and retook the town, after a brave resistance. Uraia destroyed
the whole of Milan in 539; and hence it is that this city, once so
important a centre of Roman civilization, possesses so few
remains of antiquity. Narses, in his campaigns against the
Goths, had invited the Lombards to his aid. They came in a
body under Alboin, their king, in 568, and were soon masters of
north Italy. They entered Milan in the next year, but Pavia
became the Lombard capital.
Of Roman remains little is to be seen above ground, but
a portico of sixteen Corinthian columns near S. Lorenzo,
which may belong to the baths of Hercules, mentioned by
Ausonius, or to the palace of Maximian. Close to the Torre
del Carrobio remains of an ancient bridge and (possibly)
of the walls of Maximian were found: and many remains
of ancient buildings, including a theatre, have been dis-
covered below ground-level. The objects found are preserved
in the archaeological museum in the Castello Sforzesco. (See
Milan.)
See Th. Mommsen in Corp. inscript. Latin. (Berlin, 1883), v. 617
sqq. (with full bibliography) ; Notizie degli Scavi, passim.
(T.As.)
MEDITERRANEAN SEA. The Mediterranean is all that
remains of a great ocean which at an early geological epoch,
before the formation of the Atlantic, encircled half the globe
along a line of latitude. This ocean, already diminished in
area, retreated after Oligocene times from the Iranian plateau,
Turkestan, Asia Minor and the region of the north-west Alps.
Next the plains of eastern Europe were lost, then the Aralo-
Caspian region, southern Russia and finally the valley of the
Danube. The " Mediterranean region," as a geographical
unit, includes all this area; the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora
are within its submerged portion, and the climate of the, whole
is controlled by the oceanic influences of the Mediterranean
Sea. Professor Suess, to whom the above description is due,
finds that the Mediterranean forms no exception to the rule in
affording no evidence of elevation or depression within historic
times; but it is noteworthy that its present basin is remarkable
in Europe for its volcanic and seismic activity. Submarine
earthquakes are in some parts sufficiently frequent and violent
as seriously to interfere with the working of telegraph cables.
Suess divides the Mediterranean basin into four physical regions,
which afford probably the best means of description : (1) The
western Mediterranean, from Gibraltar to Malta and Sicily,
68
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
enclosed by the Apennines, the mountains of northern Africa,
and of southern and south-eastern Spain (Cordillere bitique).
(2) The Adriatic, occupying the space between the Apennines
and the Dinaric group (Suess compares the Adriatic to the valley
of the Brahmaputra). (3) A part surrounded by the fragments
of the Dinaro-Taurus arch, especially by Crete and Cyprus.
This includes the Aegean and the Black Sea, and its margin
skirts the south coast of Asia Minor. These three parts belong
strictly to Eurasia. (4) Part of the coastal region of Indo-
Africa, terraced downwards in successive horizontal planes
from the Shot, reaching the sea in the Little Syrte, and con-
tinuing to the southern depressions of Syria. Malta and
Gozo are the only islands of the Mediterranean which can be
associated with this section, and, per contra, the mountain
chain of north-west Africa belongs to Eurasia. Murray
(1888) estimates the total area of the Mediterranean at
813,000 sq. m. Karstens (1894) breaks it up into parts as
follows: —
Western Mediterranean . . 841,593 sq. km.
Sicilian-Ionian basin . . . 767,658 „
Greece and Levant basin . . 769,652 „
Adriatic Sea .... 130,656 „
Total
2,509.559
A more recent calculation by Krummel gives the total area
as 2,967,570 sq. km. or 1,145,830 sq. m. (See Ocean.) Murray
estimates the total surface of the Mediterranean drainage area,
with which must be included the Black Sea, at 2,934,500 sq. m.,
of which 1,420,800 are Eurasian and 1,513,800 are African.
The principal rivers entering the Mediterranean directly are
the Nile from Africa, and the Po, Rhone and Ebro from
Europe.
The physical divisions of the Mediterranean given above hold
gOod in describing the form of the sea-bed. The western
Mediterranean is cut off by a bank crossing the narrow strait
between Sicily and Cape Bon, usually known as the Adventure
Bank, on which the depth is nowhere 200 fathoms. The mean
depth of the western basin is estimated at 881 fathoms, and
the deepest sounding recorded is 2040 fathoms. In the eastern
Mediterranean the mean depth is nearly the same as in the
western basin. The Sicilian-Ionian basin has a mean depth of
885 fathoms, and the Levant basin, 793 fathoms. Deep water
is found close up to the coast of Sicily, Greece, Crete and the edge
of the African plateau. The steepest slope observed occurs off
the island of Sapienza, near Navarino, where 1720 fathoms has
been obtained only 10 miles from land. In 1897 the ship
" Washington " obtained depths of 2220 fathoms in the middle
of the eastern Mediterranean; and the Austrian expeditions in
the " Pola " discovered in the " Pola Deep " (35 44' N., 21 45'
E.), south-west of Cape Matapan, a maximum depth of 2046
fathoms. Between these two deep areas a ridge runs in a
north-westerly direction 550 fathoms from the surface — possibly
a projection from the African plateau. Another bank 1100
fathoms from the surface runs south from the east end of Crete,
separating the Pola Deep from the depths of the Levant basin,
in which a depth of i960 fathoms was recorded near Makri on
the coast of Asia Minor. The later expedition of the " Pola "
discovered the " Rhodes Deep " (36 5' N., 28 36' E.), with a
maximum depth of 2 no fathoms: this deep is closed to the
south-east by a ridge running south-east, over which the depth
is 1050 fathoms. Off the coast of Syria the " Pola " obtained
four soundings of more than 1 100 fathoms, and between Cyprus
and the coast of Asia Minor only two over 550 fathoms. Murray
gives the following figures for the areas and volumes of the
Mediterranean at different depths: —
Depth. Area. Volume.
Fathoms. Sq. Miles. Cub. Miles.
o- 100 . . 201,300 80,950
100- 500 . . 251,650 220,850
500-1000 . 81,300 189,200
1000-2000 . . 263,250 217,050
Over 2000 . . 15.500 1,750
which gives a mean depth over all of 768 fathoms. The following
table is due to Karstens :- —
Western Mediterranean
Sicilian- Ionian basin
Levant
Adriatic Sea .
Volume.
Mean Depth
Cub. Km.
Fathoms.
1.356,512
881
1,242,549
885
1,116,599
793
31,844
133
813,000
709,800
Krummel gives the total volume of the basin as 4,249,020 cubic
kilometres or 1,019,400 cubic statute miles, and the mean depth
as 782 fathoms. (See Ocean.)
Meteorology. — As already stated, the " Mediterranean region "
forms a distinct climatic unit, chiefly due to the form and position
of the Mediterranean Sea. The prevailing winds in this region,
which the sea traverses longitudinally, are westerly, but the sea
itself causes the formation of bands of low barometric pressure
during the winter season, within which cyclonic disturbances
frequently develop, while in summer the region comes under the
influence of the polar margin of the tropical high pressure belt.
Hence the Mediterranean region is characteristically one of winter
rains, the distinctive feature becoming less sharply defined from
south to north, and the amount of total annual fall increasing in
the same direction. The climate becomes more continental in type
from west to east, but there are great local irregularities — the ele-
vated plateaus of Algeria and Spain cause a rise of pressure in winter
and delay the rainy seasons: the rains set in earlier in the west
than in the east, and the total fall is greater. Temperature varies
greatly, the annual mean varying from 56° F. to 77 F. In the
west the Atlantic influence limits the mean annual range to about
io" — 12 F., but in the east this increases to 36 and even 40 .
Autumn is warmer than spring, especially in the coastal regions,
and this is exaggerated in the eastern region by local land winds,
which replace the cool sea-breezes of summer: overcoats are ordi-
narily worn in Spain and Italy till July, and are then put aside till
October. Local winds form an important feature in nearly all
the coast climates of the Mediterranean, especially in winter, where
they are primarily caused by the rapid change of temperature
from the sea to the snow-clad hinterlands. Cold dry winds, often
of great violence, occur in the Rhone valley (the Mistral), in Istria,
and Dalmatia (the Bora), and in the western Caucasus. In summer
a north-west "trade" wind, the Maestro, occurs in the Adriatic.
The Sirocco is a cyclonic wind characteristic of the winter rainy
season; in the Adriatic it is usually accompanied by cloud and
moisture, often by rain. In Sicily and southern Italy the Sirocco
occurs at all seasons; it is a dry, dusty wind from south-east or
south-west. The dust is chiefly of local origin, but partly comes
from the Sahara. Similar winds are met with in Spain (the Leveche),
but they reach their greatest development in the Simooms of Algeria
and Syria, and the Khamsin of Egypt.
Temperature. — The mean surface temperature of the waters of
the Mediterranean falls from south-east, where it is over 70° F., to
north-west, the average at the coast of the Gulf of Lyons being. 60°.
The isothermal of 65 ° runs from Gibraltar to the north of Sardinia,
and thence by the Strait of Messina to the Gulf of Corinth. A
similar distribution is found 100 fathoms from the surface, tempera-
ture falling from 60° in the Levant to 55" east of Gibraltar. At
200 fathoms temperature falls in the same way from 58° to 55 ,
but below 250 fathoms temperatures are practically uniform to the
bottom, 55-5° in the western basin and 56-5° in the eastern. The
bottom temperature observed in the Pola Deep was 56-3°.
Salinity. — In the extreme west the salinity of the surface water
is about 36-3 per mille, and it increases eastwards to 37-6 east of
Sardinia and 39-0 and upwards in the Levant. Observations of
salinity in the depths of the western Mediterranean are very deficient,
but the average is probably between 38-0 and 38-5. In the eastern
basin the " Pola " expedition observed salinities of 38-7 to 39-0 to the
east of a line joining Cape Matapan with Alexandria, and 38-2 to
38-7 to the west of it. The salter waters apparently tend to make
their way westwards close to the African coast, and at the bottom
the highest salinities have been observed south of Crete. Evnitzki
states that the saltest water of the whole basin occurs in the Aegean
Sea.
Circulation. — There is little definite circulation of water withj{i
the Mediterranean itself. In the straits joining it with the Atlantic-
and the Black Sea the fresher surface waters of these seas flow
inwards to assist in making good the loss by evaporation at the
surface of the Mediterranean, and in both cases dense water makes
its way outwards along the bottom of the channels, the outflowing
currents being less in volume and delivery than the inflowing.
Elsewhere local surface currents are developed, either drifts due
to the direct action of the winds, or streams produced by wind
action heaping water up against the land ; but these nowhere rise to
the dignitv of a distinct current system, although they are often
sufficient to obliterate the feeble tidal action characteristic of the
Mediterranean. Dr Natterer, the chemist of the " Pola " expeditions,
has expressed the opinion that the poverty of the pelagic fauna
is solely due to the want of circulation in the depths.
MEDIUM— MEDLAR
6 9
Deposits. — A great part of the bottom of the Mediterranean is
covered with blue muds, frequently with a yellow upper layer
containing a considerable proportion of carbonate of lime, chiefly
shells of pelagic Foraminifera. In many parts, particularly in
the eastern basin, a calcareous or siliceous crust, from half an inch
to three inches in thickness, is met with; and Natterer suggested
that the formation of this crust may be due to the production of
carbonate of ammonium where deposits containing organic matter
are undergoing oxidation, and the consequent precipitation of
carbonate of lime and other substances from the waters nearer
the surface. This view, however, has not met with general
acceptance. , (H. N. D.)
MEDIUM, primarily a person through whom, as an inter-
mediate, communication is deemed to be carried on between
living men and spirits of the departed, according to the spiritistic
hypothesis; such a person is better termed sensitive or auto-
matist. The phenomena of mediumship fall into two classes,
(i) " physical phenomena " (q.v.) and (2) trance and automatic
phenomena (fitterances, script, &c); both these may be mani-
fested by the same person, as in the case of D. D. Home and
Stainton Moses, but are often independent.
I. No sufficient mass of observations is to hand to enable us
to distinguish between the results of trickery or hallucination
on the one hand, and genuine supernormal phenomena on the
other; but the evidence for raps and lights is good; competent
observers have witnessed supposed materializations and there
is respectable evidence for movements of objects.
Mediumship in the modern sense of the term may be said to
have originated with the Rochester rappings of 1848 (see
Spiritualism); but similar phenomena had been reported by
such authors as Apollonius of Tyana; they figure frequently in
the lives of the saints; and the magician in the lower stages of
culture is in many respects a counterpart of the white medium.
Among physical mediums who have attained celebrity may be
mentioned D. D. Home (q.v.), Stainton Moses and Eusapia
Palladino; the last has admittedly been fraudulent at times,
but no deceit was ever proved of Home; Stainton Moses sat in a
private circle and no suspicion of his good faith was ever aroused.
W. Stainton Moses (1839-1892) was a man of university educa-
tion, a clergyman and a schoolmaster. In 1872 he became
interested in spiritualism and soon began to manifest medium-
istic phenomena,which continued for some ten years. These
included, besides trance communications, raps, telekinesis,
levitation, production of lights, perfumes and musical sounds,
apports and materialized hands. But the conditions under
which the experiments were tried were not sufficiently rigid to
exclude the possibility of normal causes being at work; for no
amount of evidence that the normal life is marked by no lapse
from rectitude affords a presumption that uprightness will
characterize states of secondary personality.
Eusapia Palladino has been observed by Sir O. Lodge, Pro-
fessor Richet, F. W. H. Myers, and other eminent investigators;
the first named reported that none of the phenomena in his
presence went beyond what could be accomplished in a normal
manner by a free and uncontrolled person; but he was convinced
that movements were produced without apparent contact.
Among other phenomena asserted to characterize the medium-
ship of Eusapia are the production of temporary prolongations
from the medium's body; these have been seen in a good light
by competent witnesses. It was shown in some sittings held
at Cambridge in 1895 that Eusapia produced phenomena by
fraudulent means: but though the evidence of this is conclusive
it has not been shown that her mediumship is entirely fraudulent.
Automatic records of seances can alone solve the problems
raised by physical mediumship. It has been shown in the Davey-
Hodgson experiments that continuous observation, even for a
short period, is impossible, and that in the process of recording
the observations many omissions and errors are inevitable.
Even were it otherwise, no care could provide against the
possibility of hallucination.
II. The genuineness of trance mediumship can no longer be
called in question. The problem for solution is the source of
the information. The best observed case is that of Mrs Piper
of Boston; at the outset of her career, in 1884, she did not differ
from the ordinary American trance medium. In 1885 the
attention of Professor William James of Harvard was attracted
to her; and for twenty years she remained under the supervision
of the Society for Psychical Research. During that period three
phases may be distinguished: (1) 1884-189^ trance utterances
of a " control " calling himself Dr Phinuit, a French physician,
of whose existence in the body no trace can be found; (2)
1892-1896, automatic writing by a " control " known as " George
Pelham," the pseudonym of a young Ameripan author; (3)
1896 onwards, supervision by " controls " purporting to be
identical with those associated with Stainton Moses. There is
no evidence for regarding Mrs Piper as anything but absolutely
honest. Much of the Piper material remains unpublished,
partly on account of its intimate character. Many of those to
whom the communications were made have been convinced
that the " controls " are none other than discarnate spirits.
Probably no absolute proof of identity can be given, though the
reading of sealed letters would come near it; these have been left
by more than one prominent psychical researcher, but so far
the " controls " who claim to be the writers of them have failed
to give their contents, even approximately.
Professor Flournoy has investigated a medium of very differ-
ent type, known as Helene Smith; against her good faith nothing
can be urged, but her phenomena — trance utterance and glosso-
lalia — have undoubtedly been produced by her own mind.
These represent her to be the reincarnation of a Hindu princess,
and of Marie Antoinette among others, but no evidence of
identity has been produced. The most striking phenomenon
of her trance was the so-called Martian language, eventually
shown by analysis to be a derivative of French, comparable
to the languages invented by children in the nursery, but more
elaborate.
Authorities.— F. W. H. Myers, Human Personality; F. Podmore,
Modern Spiritualism; the Proceedings and Journal of the Society
for Psychical Research, passim; for a convenient survey of the
Piper case, see F. Sage, Madame Piper; J. Maxwell, Les Phi-
nomenes psychiques (1903 ; Eng. trans. 1905) ; Th. Flournoy, Des
Indes it la planete Mars. For fraudulent methods, see Confessions
of a Medium (London, 1882) ; Truesdell, Bottom Facts of Spiritualism,
and works cited by Myers, II., 502-503. (N. W. T.)
MEDJIDIE, or Mejidie, the name of a military and knightly
order of the Turkish Empire, and also of a silver Turkish coin,
worth twenty piastres. The coin was first struck in 1844, and
the order was instituted in 1852 by the sultan Abd-ul-Mejid,
whose name was therefore given to them. (See Knighthood
and Chivalry: § Orders of Knighthood.)
MEDLAR, Mespilus germanica, a tree of the tribe Pomeae of
the order Rosaceae, closely allied to the genus Pyrus, in which it
is sometimes included; it is a native of European woods, &c,
from Holland southwards, and of western Asia. It occurs in
hedges, &c, in middle and south England, as a small, much-
branched, deciduous, spinous tree, but is not indigenous. The
medlar was well known to the ancients. Pickering (Chron. Hist.
PI. p. 201) identifies it with a tree mentioned in a Siao-ya ode
{She-King, ii. 1, 2), 827 B.C. It is the juecrjriXrj of Theophrastus
and Mespilus of Pliny. The Latin mespilus or mespilum became
in Old French mesle or medle, " the fruit," meslier, medlier, " the
tree." The modern French nefie is from a corruption nespilum of
the Latin. The German Mispel preserves the original more closely.
The well-known fruit is globular, but depressed above, with
leafy persistent sepals, and contains stones of a hemispherical
shape. It is not fit to eat until it begins to decay and becomes-
" bletted," when it has an agreeable acid and somewhat astrin-
gent flavour. Several varieties are known in cultivation. The
large Dutch medlar, which is very widely cultivated, has a
naturally crooked growth; the large, much-flattened fruit is
inferior in quality to the Nottingham, which is a tree of upright
habit with fruits of about 1 in. diameter, superior to any other
variety. There is also a stoneless variety with still smaller
fruits, but the quality is not so good.
The medlar is propagated by budding or grafting upon the
white-thorn, which is most suitable if the soil is dry and sandy,
or on the quince if the soil is moist; the pear stock also succeeds
70
MEDOC— MEDUSA
well on ordinary soils. It produces the best fruit in rich, loamy,
somewhat moist ground. The tree may be grown as a standard,
and chiefly requires pruning to prevent the branches from rub-
bing each other. The fruit should be gathered in November,
on a dry day, and laid out upon shelves. It becomes " bletted "
and fit for use in two or three weeks. The Japanese medlar is
Eriobotrya japonica (see Loquat), a genus of the same tribe of
Rosaceae.
MEDOC, a district in France adjoining the left bank of the
Gironde from Blanquefort (N. of Bordeaux) to the mouth of
the Gironde. Its length is about 50 m., its breadth averages
between 6 and 7 m. It is formed by a number of low hills,
which separate the Landes from the Gironde, and is traversed
Only by small streams; the Gironde itself is muddy, and often
enveloped in fog, and the region as a whole is far from
picturesque. Large areas of its soil are occupied by vineyards,
the products of which form the finest growths of Bordeaux.
(See Wine.)
MEDUSA, the name given by zoologists to the familiar marine
animals known popularly as jelly-fishes; or, t^ be more accurate,
to those jelly-fishes 1 in which the form of tje body resembles
that of an umbrella, bell or parachute. The name medusa is
suggested by the tentacles, usually long and often numerous,
implanted on the edge of the umbrella and bear the stinging
organs of which sea-bathers are often disagreeably aware. The
tentacles serve for the capture of prey and are very contractile,
being often protruded to a great length or, on the other hand,
retracted and forming corkscrew-like curls. Hence the animals
have suggested to vivid imaginations the head of the fabled
Gorgon or Medusa with her chevelure of writhing snakes.
The medusa occurs as one type of individual in the class
Hydrozoa (q.v.), the other type being the polyp (q.v.). In a
typical medusa we can distinguish the following parts. The
umbrella-like body bears a circle of tentacles at the edge, whereby
the body can be divided into a convex exumbrella or exumbral
surface and a concave subumbrella or subumbral surface. The
vast majority of jelly-fish float in the sea, with the exumbrella
upwards, the subumbrella downwards. A few species, however,
attach themselves temporarily or permanently to some firm
object by the exumbral surface of the body, and then the sub-
umbral surface is directed upwards. From the centre of the
subumbral surface hangs down the manubrium, like the handle
of an umbrella or the clapper of a bell, bearing the mouth at its
extremity. In addition to the tentacles, the margin of the
umbrella bears sense-organs, which may be of several kinds
and may attain a high degree of complexity.
Medusae capture their prey, consisting of small organisms of
various kinds, especially Crustacea, by means of the tentacles
which hang out like fishing-lines in all directions. When the
prey comes into contact with the tentacles it is paralysed, and
at the same time held firmly, by the barbed threads shot out
from the stinging organs or nematocysts. Then by contraction
of the tentacles the prey is drawn into the mouth. Medusae
thus form an important constituent of the plankton or floating
fauna of the ocean, and compete with fish and other animals for
the food-supply furnished by minuter forms of life.
A medusa has a layer of muscles, more or less strongly
developed, running in a circular direction on the surface of the
subumbrella, the contractions of which are antagonized by the
elasticity of the gelatinous substance of the body. By the con-
traction of the subumbral circular muscles the concavity of the
subumbrella is increased, and as water is thereby forced out'of
the subumbral cavity the animal is jerked upwards. In this
way jelly-fish progress feebly by the pumping movements of
the umbrella. Besides the circular subumbral muscles, there
may be others running in a radial direction, chiefly developed
as the longitudinal retractor muscles of the manubrium. In
some cases the circular subumbral muscles form a rim known as
the velum (v., see fig. 1), projecting into the subumbral cavity just
within the ring of marginal tentacles. The two principal
1 The gooseberry-like or band-shaped jelly-fishes belong to the
class Ctenophora (q.v.).
divisions of the medusae are characterized by the presence 01
absence of a velum.
Correlated with the well-developed muscular system and
sense-organs of the medusa, we find also a distinct nervous
system, either, when there is no velum, in the form of concentra-
tions of nervous matter in the vicinity of each sense-organ, or,
when a velum is present, as two continuous rings running round
the margin of the umbrella, one external to the velum (exumbral
nerve-ring, n.r 1 , see fig. 1), the other internal to it (subumbral
nerve-ring, n.r 2 .). The exumbral nerve-ring is the larger and
supplies the tentacles; the subumbral ring supplies the velum.
Every possible variety of body-form compatible with the fore-
going description may be exhibited by different species of medusae.
The body may show modifications of form which can be compared
to a shallow saucer, a cup, a bell or a thimble. The marginal
tentacles may be very numerous or may be few in number or even
absent altogether; and they may be simple filaments, or branched
in a complicated manner. The manubrium maytlfce excessively
long or very short, and in rare cases absent, the mouth then being
flush with the subumbral surface. The mouth may be circular or
four-cornered, and in the latter case the manubrium at the angles
of the mouth may become drawn out into four lappets, the oral
arms, each with a groove on its inner side continuous with the corner
Fig. 1.
Diagram of the structure of a medusa ; the ectoderm is left clear,
the endoderm is dotted, the .mesogloea is shaded black; a-b,
principal axis (see Hydrozoa) ; to the left of this line the section
is supposed to pass through an inter-radius (I.R.); to the right
through a radius (R). The exumbral surface is uppermost, the
subumbral surface, with the manubrium and mouth, is facing
downwards.
St. Stomach.
r.c. Radial canal.
c.c. Circular or ring-canal.
e.l. Endoderm-lamella.
v. Velum.
G. Gonads.
n.r. 1 Exumbral (so-called
upper) nerve-ring.
n.r? Subumbral (so-called
lower) nerve-ring.
(For other figures of medusae see Hydrozoa.)
of the mouth. The oral arms are the starting-point of a further
series of variations; they may be simple flaps, crinkled and folded
in various ways, or they may be subdivided, and then the branches
may simulate tentacles in appearance. In the genus Rhizostoma,
common on the British coasts and conspicuous on account of its
large size, the oral arms, originally distinct and four in number,
undergo concrescence, so that the entrance to the mouth is reduced
to numerous fine pores and canals. 2
Like the external structure, the internal anatomy of the medusa
shows a complete radial symmetry, and is simple in plan but often
complicated in detail (see fig. i). As in all Hydrozoa (q.v.) the body
wall is composed of two cell-layers, the ectoderm and endoderm.
between which is a structureless gelatinous secreted layer, the
mesogloea. As the name jelly-fish implies, the mesogloea is greatly
developed and abundant in quantity. It may be traversed by
processes of the cells of the ectoderm and endoderm, or it may
contain cells which have migrated into it from these two layers.
The ectoderm covers the whole external surface of the animal,
while the endoderm lines the coelenteron or gastrovascular space;
the two layers meet each other, and become continuous, at the edge
of the mouth.
The mouth leads at once into the true digestive cavity, divisible
into an oesophageal region in the manubrium and a more dilated
cavity, the stomach (st.), occupying the centre of the umbrella.
From the stomach, canals arise termed the radial canals (r.c.) ;
typically four in number, they run in a radial direction to the edge
2 For other variations of the medusa, often of importance for
systematic classification, see Hydromedusae and Scyphomedusae.
MEDWAY— MEEK
7i
of the umbrella. There the radial canals are joined by a ring-
canal {c.c.) which runs round the margin of the umbrella. From
the ring-canal are given off tentacle-canals which run down the
axis of each tentacle; in many cases, however, the cavity of the
tentacle is obliterated and instead of a canal the tentacle contains
a solid core of endoderm. Oesophagus, stomach, radial canals,
ring-canal and tentacle-canals, constitute together the gastro-
vascular system and are lined throughout by endoderm, which
forms also a flat sheet of cells connecting the radial canals and
ring canal together like a web ; this is the so-called endoderm-lamella
(e.l.), a most important 'feature of medusan morphology, the nature
of which will be apparent when the development is described. As
a general rule the mouth is the only aperture of the gastrovascular
system; in a few cases, however, excretory pores are found on the
nng-canal, but there is never any anal opening.
The sense-organs of medusae are of two classes: (i) pigment
spots, sensitive to light, termed ocelli, which may become elaborated
into eye-like structures with lens, retina and vitreous body;
(2) organs of the sense of balance or orientation, commonly termed
otocysts or statocysts. The sense-organs are always situated at the
margin of the unbrella and may be distinguished from the morpho-
logical point of view into two categories, according as they are, or
are not, derived from. modifications of tentacles; in the former case
they are termed ientaculocysts. (For fuller information upon the
sense-organs see Hydromedusae.)
Medusae are nearly always of separate sexes, and instances of
hermaphroditism are rare. The gonads or generative organs may
be produced either in the ectoderm or the endoderm. When the
gonads are endodermal, they are formed on the floor of the stomach ;
when ectodermal (G, see fig. i), they are formed on the subumbral
surface, either on the manubrium or under the stomach or under
the radial canals, or in more than one of these regions. Medusae
often have the power of budding, and the buds are formed either
on the manubrium, or at the margin of the umbrella, or on an out-
growth or " stolon " produced from the exumbral surface.
The internal anatomy of the medusa is as variable as its external
features. The mouth may lead directly into the stomach, without
any oesophagus. The stomach may be situated in the disk, or
may be drawn out into the base of the manubrium, so that the
disk is occupied only by the radial canals. On the other hand the
stomach may have lobes extending to the ring-canal, so that radial
canals may be very short or absent. The radial canals may be
four, rarely six, or a multiple of these numbers, and may be very
numerous. They may be simple or branched. (For other ana-
tomical variations see Hydromedusae and Scyphomedusae.)
In development the medusa can be derived easily by a process
of differential growth, combined with concrescence of cell-layers,
from the actinula-larva. (For figures see Hydrozoa.) The actinula
is polyp-like, with a sack-like or rounded body; a crown of tentacles
surrounds a wide peristome, in the centre of which is the mouth,
usually raised on a conical process termed the hypostome. To
produce a medusa the actinula grows greatly along a plane at right
angles to the vertical axis of the body, whereby the aboral surface
of the actinula becomes the exumbrella, and the peristome becomes
the subumbrella. The crown of tentacles thus comes to form
a fringe to the margin of the body, and the hypostome becomes
the manubrium. As a result of this change of form the gastric
cavity or coelenteron becomes of compressed lenticular form, and
the endoderm lining it can be distinguished as an upper or exumbral
layer and a lower or subumbral layer. The next event is a great
growth in thickness of the gelatinous mesogloea, especially on the
exumbral side; as a result the flattened coelenteron is still further
compressed so that in certain spots its cavity is obliterated, and its
exumbral and subumbral layers of endoderm come into contact
and undergo concrescence. As a rule four such areas of concrescence
or cathammaia (E. Haeckel) are formed. The cathammal areas
may remain very small, mere wedge-shaped partitions dividing
up the coelenteron into a four-lobed stomach, the lobes of which
communicate at the periphery of the body by a spacious ring-canal.
More usually each cathamma is a wide triangular area, reducing
the peripheral portion of the coelenteron to the four narrow radial
canals and the ring-canal above described. The two apposed
layers of endoderm in the cathammal area undergo complete fusion
to form a single layer of epithelium, the endoderm-lamella of the
adult medusa.
Medusae, when they reproduce themselves by budding, always
produce medusae, but when they reproduce by the sexual method
the embryos produced from the egg' grow into medusae in some
cases, in other cases into polyps which bud medusae in their turn.
In this way complicated cycles of alternating generations arise,
which are described fully in Hydromedusae and Scyphomedusae.
Medusae are exclusively aquatic animals and for the most part
marine, but at least two fresh-water species are known. 1 Limno-
codium sowerbyi was first discovered swimming in the tank in which
the water-lily, Victoria regia, is cultivated in Kew Gardens, and
1 C. L. Boulenger (Proc. Zool. Soc. of London, 1907, p. 516)
recorded the discovery of a third species by himself and W. A.
Cunnington, in the brackish water of lake Birket el Kerun in the
Egyptian Fayum.
has since been found sporadically in a similar situation in other
botanical gardens, its most recent appearance being at Lille.
These jelly-fishes are probably budded from a minute polyp-stock
introduced with the roots of the lily. Another fresh-water form is
Limnocnida tanganyicae, discovered first in lake Tanganyika, and
now known to occur also in the Victoria Nyanza and in the Niger.
A medusa with a remarkable habit of life is Mnestra parasites,
which is parasitic on the pelagic mollusc Phyllirrhoe, attaching itself
to the host by its subumbral surface ; its tentacles, no longer required
for obtaining food, have become rudimentary. A parasitic mode of
life is also seen in medusae of the genus Cunina during the larval
condition, but the habit is abandoned, in this case, when the medusae
become adult.
For figures of medusae see (1) E. Haeckel, " Das System der
Medusen," Denkschriften med-natwiss. Ges. Jena (1879, 2 vols.);
(2) Id., " Deep-Sea Medusae," Challenger Reports, Zoology, IV.
pt. ii. (1882); (3) 0. Maas, " Die craspedoten Medusen," Ergebn.
Plankton-Expedition, II. (1893); (4) id., "Die Medusen," Mem.
Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, XXIII. (1897); (§) G. J. Allman, "A
Monograph of the Gymnoblastic or Tubulanan Hydroids," Ray.
Soc. (1871-1872). (E. A. M.)
MEDWAY, a river in the south-east of England. It rises
in the Forest Ridges, S.W. of East Grinstead in Sussex, and,
increased by many feeders from these picturesque hills, has an
easterly course to the county boundary, which it forms, turning
northward for a short distance. Entering Kent near Ashurst,
its course becomes north-easterly, and this direction is generally
maintained to the mouth. The river passes Tonbridge, receiving
the Eden from the west, and later the Teise and Beult from the
south and east, all these streams watering the rich Weald (q.v.)
to the south of the North Downs. These hilts are breached by
the Medway in a beautiful valley, in which lies Maidstone,
generally much narrower than the upper valley. The charac-
teristic structure of this part of the valley is considered under the
heading Downs. Below Maidstone the valley forms a perfect
basin, the hills descending upon it closely above Rochester.
Below this city the river enters a broad, winding estuary, passing
Chatham, and at Sheerness joining that of the Thames, so that
the Medway may be considered a tributary, and its drainage area
of 680 sq. m. reckoned as part of that of the greater river.
The length of the Medway is about 60 m., excluding its many
lesser windings. The estuary is navigable for sea-going vessels
drawing 24 ft. up to Rochester Bridge. A considerable traffic
is carried on by small vessels up to Maidstone, and by barges up to
Tonbridge, the total length of the navigation being 43 m. The
marshy lowlands along the course of the river have yielded exten-
sive remains of Roman pottery, a plain ware of dark slate-colour.
MEEANEE, or Miani, a village in Sind, India, on the Indus
6 m. N. of Hyderabad. Pop. (1901), 962. It is famous as the
scene of the battle in which Sir Charles Napier, with only
2800 men, broke the power of the mirs of Sind on the 17th of
February 1843. The result of this victory was the conquest
and annexation of Sind.
MEEK, FIELDING BRADFORD (1817-1876), American
geologist and palaeontologist, the son of a lawyer, was born at
Madison, Indiana, on the 10th of December 181 7. In early
life he was in business as a merchant, but his leisure hours were
devoted to collecting fossils and studying the rocks of the neigh-
bourhood of Madison. Being unsuccessful in business he turned
his whole attention to science, and in 1848 he gained employ-
ment on the U.S. Geological Survey in Iowa, and subsequently in
Wisconsin and Minnesota. In 1852 he became assistant to Pro-
fessor James Hall at Albany, and worked at palaeontology with
him until 1858. Meanwhile in 1853 he accompanied Dr F. V.
Hayden in an exploration of the " Bad Lands " of Dakota>^.nd
brought back valuable collections of fossils. In 1858 he went
to Washington, where he devoted his time to the palaeontological
work of the United States geological and geographical surveys,
his work bearing " the stamp of the most faithful and con-
scientious research," and raising him to the highest rank asa
palaeontologist. Besides many separate contributions to science,
he prepared with W. M. Gabb (1839-1878), two volumes on
the palaeontology of California (1864-1869); and also a Report
on the Invertebrate Cretaceous and Tertiary Fossils of the U ; pper
Missouri Country (1876). He died at Washington, on the 22nd
of December 1876.
72
MEER— MEERSCHAUM
MSER, JAN VAN DER (1632-1675), more often called
Vermeer of Delft — not to be confounded with the elder (1628-
1691) or younger (1656-1705) Van der Meer of Haarlem, or with
Van der Meer of Utrecht — is one of the excellent Dutch painters
about whom the Dutch biographers give usr little information. 1
Van der Meer, or Vermeer, was born in Delft, and was a pupil
of Carel Fabritius, whose junior he was by only eight years.
The works by Fabritius are few, but his contemporaries speak
of him as a man of remarkable power, and the paintings now
ascertained to be from his hand, and formerly ascribed to Rem-
brandt, prove him to have been deeply imbued with the spirit
and manner of that master. Whether Van der Meer had ever
any closer relation to Rembrandt than through companionship
with Fabritius remains uncertain. In 1653 he married Catherine
Bolenes, and in the same year he entered the gild of St Luke of
Delft, becoming one of the heads of the gild in 1662 and again
in 1670. He died at Delft in 1675, leaving a widow and eight
children. His circumstances cannot have been flourishing, for
at his death he left twenty-six pictures undisposed of, and his
widow had to apply to the court of insolvency to be placed under
a curator, who was Leeuwenhoek, the naturalist.
For more than two centuries Van der Meer was almost com-
pletely forgotten, and his pictures were sold under the names
and forged signatures of the more popular De Hooch, Metsu,
Ter Borch, and even of Rembrandt. The attention of the art-
world was first recalled to this most original painter by Thore,
an exiled Frenchman, who described his then known works in
Musies de la Hollande (i8s8-r86o), published under the assumed
name of W. Burger. The result of his researches, continued in
his Galerie Suermondt and Galerie d'Arenberg, was afterwards
given by him in a charming, though incomplete, monograph
{Gazette des beaux-arts, 1866, pp. 297, 458, 542). The task was
prosecuted with success by Havard (Les Artistes hollandais),
and by Obreen (Nederlandsche Kunstgeschiedenis, Dl. iv.), and
we are now in a position to refer to Van der Meer's works. His
pictures are rarely dated, but one of the most important, in
the Dresden Gallery, bears the date 1656, and thus gives us a
key to his styles. With the exception of the " Christ with
Martha and Mary " in the Coats collection at Glasgow, it is
perhaps the only one, hitherto recognized, that has figures of
life size, though his authorship is claimed for several others.
The Dresden picture of a " Woman and Soldier," with other
two figures, is painted with remarkable power and boldness,
with great command over the resources of colour, and with
wonderful expression of life. For strength and colour it more than
holds its own beside the neighbouring Rembrandts. To this early
period of his career belong, from internal evidence, the "Reading
Girl " of the same gallery, the luminous and masterly " View of
Delft " in the museum of the Hague, the " Milk- Woman " and
the small street view, both identified with the Six collection at
Amsterdam, the former now in the Rijksmuseum; the magnifi-
cent "The Letter" also at Amsterdam, "Diana and the Nymphs"
(formerly ascribed to Vermeer of Utrecht) at the Hague Gallery,
and others. In all these we find the same brilliant style and
vigorous work, a solid impasto, and a crisp, sparkling touch. His
first manner seems to have been influenced by the pleiad of
painters circling round Rembrandt, a school which lost favour
in Holland in the last quarter of the century. During the final
ten or twelve years of his life Van der Meer adopted a second
manner. We now find his painting smooth and thin, and his
colours paler and softer. Instead of masculine vigour we have
refined delicacy and subtlety, but in both styles beauty of tone
and perfect harmony are conspicuous. Through all his work
1 This undeserved neglect seems to have fallen on him at an
early period, for Houbraken (Groote Schouburgh, 1718), writing little
more than forty years after his death, does not even mention him.
The only definite information we have from a contemporary is
given by Bleyswijck (Beschrijving der Stad Delft, 1687), who tells
us that he was born in 1632, and that he worked with Carel Fabritius,
an able disciple of Rembrandt, who lost his life by an explosion
of a powder magazine in Delft in 1654. I* ' s to tn e patient researches
of W. Burger (Th. Thor6), Havard, Obreen, Soutendam, and others,
that we owe our knowledge of the main facts of his life, discovered
in the archives of his native town.
may be traced his love of lemon-yellow and of blue of all shades.
Of his second style typical examples are to be seen in " The
Coquette" of the Brunswick Gallery, in the "Woman Reading"
in the Van der Hoop collection now at the Rijksmuseum at
Amsterdam, in the "Lady at a Casement " belonging to Lord
Powerscourt (exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1878) and in
the " Music Master and Pupil " belonging to the King (exhibited
at the Royal Academy, 1876).
Van der Meer's authentic pictures in public and private
collections amount to about thirty. There is but one in the
Louvre, the "Lace Maker"; Dresden has the two afore-
mentioned, while Berlin has three, all acquired in the Suermondt
collection, and the Czernin Gallery of Vienna is fortunate in
possessing a fine picture, believed to represent the artist in his
studio. In the Arenberg Gallery at Brussels there is a remark-
able head of a girl, half the size of life, which seems to be inter-
mediate between his two styles. Several of his paintings are
in private foreign collections. In all his work there is a singular
completeness and charm. His tone is usually silvery with
pearly shadows, and the lighting of his interiors is equal and
natural. In all cases his figures seem to move in light and air,
and in this respect he resembles greatly his fellow-worker De
Hooch. It is curious to read that, at one of the auctions in
Amsterdam about the middle of the 18th century, a De Hooch
is praised as being " nearly equal to the famous Van der Meer of
Delft."
See also Havard, Van der Meer (Paris, 1888) ; Vanzype, Vermeer
de Delft (Brussels, 1908), and Hofstede de Groot, Jan Vermeer von
Delft (Leipzig, 1909).
MEERAKE, a town in the kingdom of Saxony, 9 m. N. of
Zwickau and 37 S. of Leipzig by rail. Pop. (1905), 26,005. Itcon-
tains a fine medieval church (Evangelical) . It is one of the most
important industrial centres of Germany for the manufacture
of woollen and mixed cloths, and in these products has a large
export trade, especially to America and the Far East. There
are also extensive dyeworks, tanneries and machine factories.
See Leopold, Chronik und Beschreibung der Fabrik- und HanieU
sladt Meerane (1863).
MEERSCHAUM, a German word designating a soft white
mineral sometimes found floating on the Black Sea, and rathel
suggestive of sea-foam (Meerschaum), whence also the French
name for the same substance, ecume de mer. It was termed
by E. F. Glocker sepiolite, in allusion to its remote resemblance;
to the " bone "« of the sepia or cuttle-fish. Meerschaum is
opaque mineral of white, grey or cream colour, breakup
with a conchoidal or fine earthy fracture, and occasionally
though rarely, fibrous in texture. It can be readily scratched
with the nail, its hardness being about 2. The specific gravity
varies from 0-988 to r-279, but the porosity of the mineral ma)r
lead to error. Meerschaum is a hydrous magnesium silicate,
with the formula H 4 Mg 2 Si30io, or Mg 2 Si 3 08-2H20.
Most of the meerschaum of commerce is obtained from Asia
Minor, chiefly from the plain of Eski-Shehr, on the Haidar
Pasha-Angora railway, where it occurs in irregular nodular
masses, in alluvial deposits, which are extensively worked for
its extraction. It is said that in this district there are 4000
shafts leading to horizontal galleries for extraction of the
meerschaum. The principal workings are at Sepetdji-Odjaghi
and Kemikdji-Odjaghi, about 20 m. S.E. of Eski-Shehr. The
mineral is associated with magnesite (magnesium carbonate),
the primitive source of both minerals being a serpentine. When
first extracted the meerschaum is soft, but it hardens on exposure
to solar heat or when dried in a warm room. Meerschaum
is found also, though less abundantly, in Greece, as at Thebes,
and in the islands of Euboea and Samos; it occurs also in
serpentine at Hrubschitz near Kromau in Moravia. It is found
to a limited extent at certain localities in France and Spain,
and is known in Morocco. In the United States it occurs in
serpentine in Pennsylvania (as at Nottingham, Chester county)
and in South Carolina and Utah.
Meerschaum has occasionally been used as a substitute for
soap and fuller's earth, and it is said also as a building material;
but its chief use is for tobacco-pipes and cigar-holders. The
MEERUT— MEETING
73
natural nodules are first scraped to remove the red earthy
matrix, then dried, again scraped and polished with wax.
The rudely shaped masses thus prepared are sent from the
East to Vienna and other manufacturing centres, where they
are turned and carved, smoothed with glass-paper and Dutch
rushes, heated in wax or stearine, and finally polished with
bone-ash, &c. Imitations are made in plaster of Paris and
other preparations.
The soft, white, earthy mineral from Langbanshyttan, in
Vermland, Sweden, known as aphrodite {a<pp6s, foam), is
closely related to meerschaum. It may be noted that meer-
schaum has sometimes been called magnesite (q.v.).
MEERUT, a city, district and division of British India,
in the United Provinces. The city is half-way between the
Ganges and the Jumna, and has two stations on the North-
western railway, 37 m. N.E. from Delhi. Pop. (1901),
118,129. The city proper lies south of the cantonments, and
although dating back to the days of the Buddhist emperor Asoka
(c. 250 B.C.) Meerut owes its modern importance to its selection
by the British government as the site of a great military station.
In 1805 it is mentioned as " a ruined, depopulated town."
The cantonment was established in 1806, and the population
rose to 29,014 in 1847, and 82,035 in I 8S3- The town is an
important centre of the cotton-trade. It is the headquarters
of the 7th division of the northern army, with accommodation
for horse and field artillery, British and native cavalry and
infantry. It was here that the first outbreak of the Mutiny
of 1857 took place. (See Indian Mutiny.)
The District of Meerut forms part of the upper Doab,
or tract between the Ganges and the Jumna, extending from
river to river. Area, 2354 sq. m. Though well wooded in
places and abundantly supplied with mango groves, it has but
few patches of jungle or waste land. Sandy ridges run along
the low watersheds which separate the minor channels, but
with this exception the whole district is one continuous expanse
of careful and prosperous tillage. Its fertility is largely due
to the system of irrigation canals. The Eastern Jumna canal
runs through the whole length of the district, and supplies
the rich tract between the Jumna and the Hindan with a network
of distributary streams. The main branch of the Ganges canal
passes across the centre of the plateau in a sweeping curve
and waters the midland tract. The Anupshahr branch supplies
irrigation to the Ganges slope, and the Agra canal passes through
the southern comer of Loni pargana from the Hindan to the
Jumna. Besides these natural and artificial channels, the
country is everywhere cut up by small water-courses. The Burh
Ganga, or ancient bed of the Ganges, lies at some distance from
the modern stream; and on its bank stood the abandoned city
of Hastinapur, the legendary capital of the Pandavas at the
period of the Mahabharata, said to have been deserted many
centuries before the Christian era, owing to the encroachments
of the river.
The comparatively high latitude and elevated position of
Meerut make it one of the healthiest districts in the plains of
India. The average temperature varies from 57° F. in January
to 87 in June. The rainfall is small, less than 30 in. annually.
The only endemic disease in the district is malarial fever; but
small-pox and cholera occasionally visit it as epidemics. The
population in 1901 was 1,540,175, showing an increase of
io-6% in the decade. The principal crops are wheat, pulse,
millet, sugar-cane, cotton and indigo, but this last crop has
declined of late years almost to extinction. The district is
traversed by the North-Western railway, and also contains
Ghaziabad, the terminus of the East Indian system, whence a
branch runs to Delhi, while a branch of the Oudh & Rohil-
khand railway from Moradabad to Ghaziabad was opened in
1900.
The authentic history of the district begins with the Moslem in-
vasions. The first undoubted Mahommedan invasion was that
of Kutbeddin in 1191, when Meerut town was taken and all the
Hindu temples turned into mosques. In 1398 Timur captured
the fort of Lord after a desperate resistance, and put all his Hindu
prisoners to death. He then proceeded to Delhi, and after
his memorable sack of that city returned to Meerut, captured
the town, razed all the fortifications and houses of the Hindus,
and put the male inhabitants to the sword. The establishment
of the great Mogul dynasty in the 16th century, under Baber
and his successors, gave Meerut a period of internal tranquillity
and royal favour. After the death of Aurangzeb, however,
it was exposed to alternate Sikh and Mahratta invasions.
From 1707 till 1775 the country was the scene of perpetual
strife, and was only rescued from anarchy by the exertions
of the military adventurer Walter Reinhardt, afterwards the
husband of the celebrated Begum Samru, who established
himself at Sardhana in the north, and ruled a large estate.
The southern tract, however, remained in its anarchic condition
under Mahratta exactions until the fall of Delhi in 1803, when
the whole of the country between the Jumna and the Ganges
was ceded by Sindhia to the British. It was formed into a
separate district in 1818. In the British period it has become
memorable for its connexion with the Mutiny of 1857.
The Division of Meerut comprises the northern portion
of the Doab. It consists of the six districts of Dehra Dun,
Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bulandshahr and Aligarh.
Area, 11,302 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 5,979,711, showing an increase
of 12-3% in the decade.
See Meerut District Gazetteer (Allahabad, 1904).
MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble,
O. Eng. metan ; cf. Du. moelen, Swed. mota, Goth, gamotjan, &c,
derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. mot,
moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemoi) , a gathering
together of persons for the purpose of discussion or for the
transaction of business. Public meetings may be either those
of statutory bodies or assemblies of persons called together
for social, political or other purposes. In the case of statutory
bodies, by-laws usually fix the quorum necessary to constitute
a legal meeting. That of limited companies may be either
by reference to the capital held, or by a fixed quorum or one
in proportion to the number of shareholders. It has been
held that in the case of a company it takes at least two persons
to constitute a meeting {Sharp v. Daws, 1886, 2 Q.B.D. 26). In
the case of public meetings for social, political or other purposes
no quorum is necessary. They may be held, if they are for a lawful
purpose, in any place, on any day and at any hour, provided they
satisfy certain statutory provisions or by-laws made under the
authority of a statute for the safety of persons attending
such meetings. If, however, a meeting is held in the street
and it causes an obstruction those convening the meeting may
be proceeded against for obstructing the highway. The control
of a meeting and the subjects to be discussed are entirely within
the discretion of those convening it, and whether the meeting
is open to the public without payment, or subject to a charge or
to membership of a specified body or society, those present are
there merely by virtue of a licence of the conveners, which
licence may be revoked at any time. The person whose licence
is revoked may be requested to withdraw from the meeting,
and on his refusal may be ejected with such force as is necessary.
If he employs violence to those removing him he commits a
breach of the peace for which he may be given into custody.
An important English act has dealt for the first time with the
disturbance of a public meeting. The Public Meeting Act 1908
enacted that any person who at a lawful public meeting acts in
a disorderly manner for the purpose of preventing the trans-
action of the business for which the meeting was called together
shall be guilty of an offence, and if the offence is committed at a
political meeting held' in any parliamentary constituency
between the issue and return of a writ, the offence is made
an illegal practice within the meaning of the Corrupt and Illegal
Practices Prevention Act 1883. Any person who incites another
to commit the offence is equally guilty. A public meeting is
usually controlled by a chairman, who may be appointed by
the conveners or elected by the meeting itself. On the chairman
falls the duty of preserving order, of calling on persons to speak,
deciding points of order, of putting questions to the meeting
74
MEGALOPOLIS
for decision, and declaring the result and other incidental
matters.
In England it is illegal, by a statute of George III. (Seditious
Meetings Act 1817), .to hold a public meeting in the open
air within 1 m. of Westminster Hall during the sitting of
Parliament.
See C. P. Blackwell's Lav) of Meetings (1910).
MEGALOPOLIS, an ancient city of Arcadia, Greece, situated
in a plain about 20 m. S.W. of Tegea, on both banks of the
Helisson, about 2§ m. above its junction with the Alpheus. Like
Messene, it owed its origin to the Theban general Epaminondas,
and was founded in 370 B.C., the year after the battle of
Leuctra, as a bulwark for the southern Arcadians against Sparta,
and as the seat of the Arcadian Federal Diet, which consisted
of ten thousand men. The builders were protected by a Theban
force, and directed by ten native oecists (official " founders "),
an attempt to reduce Megalopolis; but the Thebans sent
assistance and the city was rescued. Not sure of this assist-
ance, the Megalopolitans had appealed to Athens, an appeal
which gave occasion to the oration of Demosthenes, Ilepi
MeyaKordXiTwv. The Spartans were now obliged to conclude
peace with Megalopolis and acknowledge her autonomy.
Nevertheless their feeling of hostility did not cease, and
Megalopolis consequently entered into friendly relations with
Philip of Macedon. Twenty years later, when the Spartans
and their allies rebelled against the power of Macedon,
Megalopolis remained firm in its allegiance, and was
subjected to a long siege. After the death of Alexander,
Megalopolis was governed by native tyrants. In the war
between Cassander and Polyperchon it took part with the
former and was besieged by the latter. On this occasion it
was able to send into the field an army of fifteen thousand.
MEGALOPOLIS.
By permission from plans by R.'W.Schultz &
W.Loring in "Excavations at Megalopolis."
(Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies.}
Walker & CockejeU sc
who likewise attended to the peopling of the new city, which
apparently drew inhabitants from all parts of Arcadia, but
especially from the neighbouring- districts of Maenalia and
Parrhasia. Forty townships are mentioned by Pausanias
(viii. 27, 3-5) as having been incorporated in it. It was
50 stadia in circumference, and was surrounded with strong
walls. Its territory was the largest in Arcadia, extending
northward 24 rn. The city was built on a magnificent scale,
and adorned with many handsome buildings, both public and
private. Its temples contained many ancient statues brought
from the towns incorporated in it. After the departure of
Epaminondas, Lycomedes of Mantineia succeeded in drawing
the Arcadian federation away from its alliance with Thebes,
and it was consequently obliged to make common cause with
Athens. An attempt on the part of the federation to use the
treasures of the temple of Zeus at Olympia led to internal
dissensions, so that in the battle of Mantineia (362) one half of
the Arcadians fought on the side of the Spartans, the other
on that of the Thebans. After this battle many of the
inhabitants of Megalopolis sought to return to their former
homes, and it was only by the assistance of three thousand
Thebans under Pammenes that the authorities were able to
prevent them from doing so. In 353, when Thebes had her
hands full with the so-called Sacred War, the Spartans made
In 234 B.C. Lydiades, the last tyrant of Megalopolis, voluntarily
resigned his power, and the city joined the Achaean League.
In consequence of this it was again exposed to the hatred of
Sparta. In 222 Cleomenes plundered it and killed or dispersed
its inhabitants, but in the year following it was restored and its
inhabitants reinstated by Philopoemen, a native of the city.
After this, however, it gradually sank into insignificance. The
only great men whom it produced were Philopoemen and
Polybius the historian. Lycortas, the father of the latter,
may be accounted a third. In the time of Pausanias the
city was mostly in ruins.
The site of Megalopolis was excavated by members of the
British School at Athens in the years 1800-1892. The description
of Pausanias is so clear that it enabled Curtius, in his Peloport*-
nesos, to give a conjectural plan that was found to tally in most
respects with the reality. The town was divided into two
approximately equal parts by the river Helisson, which flows
through it from east to west. The line of the walls may be
traced, partly by remains, partly by the contours it must have
followed, and confirms the estimate of Polybius that they had
a circuit of 5° stades, or about 5J m. It is difficult to see
how the river bed, now a broad and shingly waste, was dealt
with in ancient times ; it must have been embanked in some way,
but there are no remains to show whether the fortification wall
MEGANUCLEUS— MEGAPODE
75
was carried across the river at either end or along the parallel
embankments so as to make two separate enclosures. There
must have been, in all probability, a bridge to connect the
two halves of the city, but the foundations seen by Leake and
others, and commonly supposed to belong to such a bridge,
proved to be only the substructures of the precinct of Zeus Soter.
The buildings north of the river were municipal and were
grouped round the square agora. One, of which the complete
plan has been recovered, is tbe portico of Philip, a splendid
building, which bounded the agora on the north; it was 300 ft.,
long, with three rows of columns running its whole length,
three in the outer line to each one in the two inner lines; it had
a slightly projecting wing at either end. At the south-west
of the agora was found the precinct of Zeus Soter: it consists
of a square court surrounded by a double colonnade, and faced
on the west side. by a small temple; on the east side was an
entrance or propylaeum approached by a ramp. In the midst
of the court was a substructure which has been variously
interpreted as an altar or as the base of the great group of
Zeus and Megalopolis, which is recorded to have stood here.
North of this was the Stoa Myropolis, forming the east boundary
of the agora, and, between this and the Stoa of Philip, the
Archeia or municipal offices. These buildings were of various
dates, but seem all to fit into an harmonious plan. The buildings
on the south and west of the agora have been almost entirely
destroyed by the Helisson and a tributary brook. On the
south bank of the river were the chief federal buildings, the
theatre (noted by Pausanias as the largest in Greece), and the
Thersilion or parliament hall of the ten thousand Arcadians.
These two buildings form part of a common design, the great
portico of the Thersilion facing the orchestra of the theatre.
As a consequence of this arrangement, the plan of the theatre
is abnormal. The auditorium has as its lowest row of seats
a set of " thrones " or ornamental benches, which, as well as
the gutter in front, were dedicated by a certain Antiochus; the
orchestra is about 100 ft. in diameter; and in place of the
western parados is a closed room called the Scanotheca. The
chief peculiarity, however, lies in the great portico already
mentioned, which has its base about 4 ft. 6 in. above the
level of the orchestra. It was much too lofty to serve as a
proscenium; yet, if a proscenium of the ordinary Greek type
were erected in front, it would hide the lower part of the columns.
Such a proscenium was actually erected in later times; and
beneath it were the foundations for an earlier wooden proscenium,
which was probably erected only when required. In later times
steps were added, leading from the base of the portico to the
level of the orchestra. The theatre was probably used, like
the theatre at Athens, for political assemblies; but the adjoining
Thersilion provided covered accommodation for the Arcadian
ten thousand in wet weather. It is a building unique in plan,
sloping up from the centre towards all sides like a theatre.
The roof was supported by columns that were placed in lines
radiating from the centre, so as to obscure as little as possible
the view of an orator in this position from all parts of the
building; there were two entrances in each side.
See Excavations at Megalopolis (E. A. Gardner, W. Loring, G. C.
Richards, W. J. Woodhouse; Architecture, by R. W. Schultz) ;
Supplementary Paper issued by the Society for the Promotion of
Hellenic Studies, 1892; Journal of Hellenic Studies, xiii. 328,
A. G. Bather; p. 319, E. F. Benson ("Thersilion"); 1898, p. 15,
J. B. Bury (" Double City ") ; W. Dorpfeld (" Das griechische
Theater "); O. Puchstein, " Griechische Buhne " (Theatre).
(E. Gr.)
MEGANUCLEUS (also called Macronucletjs), in Infusoria
(q.v.)., the large nucleus which undergoes direct (amitotic)
division in fission, and is lost during conjugation, to be
replaced by a nucleus, the result of the karyogamy of the
tnicronuclei.
MEGAPODE (Gr. ju^yos, great and tovs, foot), the name given
generally to a small but remarkable family of birds, characteristic
of some parts of the Australian region, to which it is almost
peculiar. The Megapodiidae, with the Cracidae and Phasianidae,
form that division of the sub-order Galli named by Huxley
Peristeropodes (Proc. Zool. Soc, 1868, p. 296). Their most
remarkable habit is that of leaving their eggs to be hatched
without incubation, burying them in the ground (as many
reptiles do), or in a mound of earth, leaves and rotten wood
which they scratch up. This habit attracted attention nearly
four hundred years ago, 1 but the accounts given of it by various
travellers were generally discredited, and as examples of the
birds, probably from their unattractive plumage, appear not
to have been brought to Europe, no one of them was seen by
any ornithologist or scientifically described until near the end
of the first quarter of the 19th century. The first member
of the family to receive authoritative recognition was one of
the largest, inhabiting the continent of Australia, where it is
known as the brush-turkey, and was originally described by J.
Latham in 1821 under the misleading name of the New Holland
vulture. It is the Catheturus lathami of modern ornithologists,
and is nearly the size of a hen turkey. This East Australian
bird is of a sooty-brown colour, relieved beneath by the lighter
edging of some of the feathers, but the head and neck are nearly
bare, beset with fine bristles, the skin being of a deep pinkish-
red, passing above the breast into a large wattle of bright yellow.
The tail is commonly carried upright and partly folded, some-
thing like that of a domestic fowl. Allied to it are three or
four species of Talegattus, from New Guinea and adjacent
islands.
Another form, an inhabitant of South and West Australia,
commonly known in England as the mallee-bird, but to the
colonists as the " native pheasant " — the Lipoa ocellata, as
described by J. Gould in the Proc. Zool. Soc. (1840), p. 126,
has much shorter tarsi and toes, the head entirely clothed,
and the tail expanded. Its plumage presents a combination
of greys and browns of various tints, interspersed with black,
white and buff, the wing-coverts and feathers of the back
bearing each near the tip an oval or subcircular patch, whence
the scientific name of the bird is given, while a stripe of black
feathers with a median line of white extends down the front of
the throat from the chin to the breast. There is but one species
of this genus known, as is also the case with the next to be
mentioned, a bird long known to inhabit Celebes, but not fully
1 Antonio Pigafetta, one of the survivors of Magellan's voyage,
records in his journal, under date of April 1521, among the peculia-
rities of the Philippine Islands, then first discovered by Europeans,
the existence of a bird there, about the size of a fowl, which laid its
eggs, as big as a duck's, in the sand, and left them to be hatched
by the heat of the sun {Premier voyage autour du monde, ed. Amor-
etti, Paris, A.R. ix. 88). More than a hundred years later the
Jesuit Nieremberg, in his Historia naturae, published at Antwerp
in 1635, described (p. 207) a bird called " Daie," and by the natives
named " Tapun," not larger than a dove, which, with its tail (!)
and feet excavated a nest in sandy places and laid therein eggs bigger
than those of a goose. The publication at Rome in 1651 of Hernan-
dez's Hist, avium novae Hispaniae shows that his papers must have
been accessible to Nieremberg, who took from them the passage just
mentioned, but, as not unusual with him, misprinted the names which
stand in Hernandez's work (p. 56, cap. 220) " Daic " and " Tapum "
respectively, and omitted his predecessor's important addition
" Viuit in Philippicis." Not long after, the Dominican Navarrete,
a missionary to China, made a considerable stay in the Philippines,
and returning to Europe in 1673 wrote an account of the Chinese
empire, of which Churchill {Collection of Voyages and Travels,
vol. i.) gave an English translation in 1704. It is therein stated
(p- 45) that in many of the islands of the Malay Archipelago " there
is a very singular bird call'd Tabon" and that " What I and many
more admire is, that it being no bigger in body than an ordinary
chicken, tho' long legg'd, yet it lays an egg larger than a gooses,,
so that the egg is bigger than the bird itself. ... In order to lay
its eggs, it digs in the sand above a yard in depth; after laying, it
fills up the hole and makes it even with the rest; there the eggs
hatch with the heat of the sun and sand." Gemelli Careri, who
travelled from 1663 to 1699, and in the latter year published an
account of his voyage round the world, gives similar evidence
respecting this bird, which he calls " tavon," in the Philippine
Islands {Voy. du tour du monde, ed. Paris, 1727, v. 157, 158).
The megapode of Luzon is fairly described by Camel or Camelli
in his observations on the birds of the Philippines communicated by
Petiver to the Royal Society in 1703 {Phil. Trans, xxiii. 1398).
In 1726 Valentyn published his elaborate work on the East Indies,
wherein (deel iii. bk. v. p. 320) he correctly describes the megapode
of Amboina under the name of " malleloe," and also a larger kind
found in Celebes.
7 6
MEGARA— MEGARA HYBLAEA
described until 1846, 1 when it received from Salomon Mtiller
(Arch. f. Naturgeschichte, xii. pt. 1, p. 116) the name of
Macrocephalon maleo, but, being shortly afterwards figured by
Gray and Mitchell (Gen. Birds, iii. pi. 123) under the generic
term of Megacephalon, has since commonly borne the latter
appellation. This bird bears a helmet-like protuberance on
the back of its head, all of which, as well as the neck, is bare
and of a bright red colour; the plumage of the body is glossy
black above, and beneath roseate-white.
Of the megapodes proper, constituting the genus Megapodius,
about fifteen species are admitted. The birds of this genus
range from the Samoa Islands in the east, through the Tonga
group, to the New Hebrides, the northern part of Australia,
New Guinea and its neighbouring islands, Celebes, the Pelew
Islands and the Ladrones, and have also outliers in detached
portions of the Indian Region, as the Philippines (where indeed
they were first discovered by Europeans), Labuan, and even the
Nicobars — though none is known from the intervening islands
of Borneo, Java or Sumatra. Within what may be deemed
their proper area they are found, says A. R. Wallace (Ceogr.
Distr. Animals, ii. 341), " on the smallest islands and sandbanks,
and can evidently pass over a few miles of sea with ease."
Indeed, proof of their roaming disposition is afforded by the
fact that the bird described by Lesson (Voy. Coquille: Zoologie,
p. 703) as Alecthelia urvillii, but now considered to be the
young of Megapodius freycineti, flew on board his ship when
more than 2 m. from the nearest land (Guebe), in an exhausted
state, it is true, but that may be attributed to its youth. The
species of Megapodius are about the size of small fowls, the
head generally crested, the tail very short, the feet enormous,
and, with the exception of M. wallacii (Proc. Zool. Soc,
i860, Aves, pi. 171), from the Moluccas, all have a sombre
plumage.
Megapodes are shy terrestrial birds, of heavy flight, and
omnivorous diet. In some islands they are semi-domesticated,
although the flesh is dark and generally unpalatable. (A. N.)
MEGARA, an ancient Greek town on the road from Attica
to Corinth. The country which belonged to the city was
called Meyapts or i) Meyapi/oJ; it occupied the broader part
of the isthmus between Attica, Boeotia, Corinth, and the two
gulfs, and its whole area is estimated by Clinton at 143 sq. m.
The range of Mount Geraneia extends across the country from
east to west, forming a barrier between continental Greece
and the Peloponnesus. The shortest road across this range
passes along the eastern side of the mountains, and the most
difficult part is the celebrated Scironian rocks, the mythic
home of the robber Sciron. The only plain in the rugged
little country was the White Plain, in which was situated the
only important town, Megara. The modern town of Megara
is situated on two low hills which formed part of the ancient
site; it is the chief town of the eparchy of Megaris; pop. about
6400. It contains few remains of antiquity, except of the
aqueduct and basin, said to have been made by the architect
Eupalinus for the tyrant Theagenes. (E. Gr.)
From the somewhat conflicting evidence of mythology it
may be gathered that in prehistoric days Megara had maritime
intercourse with the southern Aegean. The early inhabitants,
whose race is unknown, were extirpated or absorbed in the Dorian
migration, for in historic times the city had a homogeneous
Dorian population. Favoured by its proximity to two great
waterways and by its two ports, Nisaea on the Saronic and Pegae
on the Corinthian Gulf, Megara took a prominent part in the
commercial expansion of Greece from the 8th century onwards,
and for two hundred years enjoyed prosperity out of proportion
to the slight resources of its narrow territory. Its trade was
mainly directed towards Sicily, where Megarian colonies were
established at Hybla (Megara Hyblaea) and Selinus, and towards
the Black Sea, in which region the Megarians were probably
1 As we have seen, it was mentioned in 1726 by Valentyn, and
a young example, was in 1830 described and figured by Quoy
and Gaimard (Voy. de V Astrolabe: Oiseaux, p. 239, pi. 25) as the
Megapodius rubripes of Temminck, a wholly different bird.
pioneers of Greek commerce. In the Sea of Marmora they
had to face the competition of the Samians, with whom they
waged a war concerning the town of Perinthus, and of Miletus;
but on the Bosporus they established themselves by means of
settlements at Chalcedon and, above all, Byzantium (founded,
according to tradition, 675 and 658 respectively). In the
Black Sea they exploited the shores of Pontus and Scythia,
whose products they exchanged for textiles spun from the
wool of their own country. Their chief colonies in this sea
•were Astacus and Heraclea in Bithynia, and another Heraclea
in the Crimea. In the later 7th century this current of trade
dwindled in face of the great commercial and colonizing activity
of Miletus; it probably received further injury through the
subsequent interference of Athens on the Hellespont. Simul-
taneously Megarian commerce in Sicily began to be supplanted
by Corinth and Corcyra. •
Megara's economic development entailed a change in the dis-
tribution of wealth, and consequently of political power, which is
commented upon in the elegies of Theognis (q.v.). The original
land-holding aristocracy, which had probably initiated and for
a time monopolized commerce, was partly supplanted by prosperous
upstarts, and with the general increase of prosperity began to lose
its hold upon the community of artisans. In the ensuing party
struggles the city passed under a tyrant, Theagenes (about 640),
whose rule was too brief to produce great changes. The power of
the nobles would seem to have been more effectively broken in a
war with Athens, in which Megara ultimately lost the island of
Salamis (about 570, see Solon), for shortly afterwards the con-
stitution was changed to a democracy, and eventually was fixed
as an oligarchy of a moderate type.
During the Persian wars the state, which had recently joined
the Peloponnesian League, could still muster 3000 hoplites. But
the subsequent expansion of Athens ruined the commerce of Megara,
and the town itself was threatened with absorption by some powerful
neighbour. In 459 an attack by Corinth, which had always coveted
Megara's territory, induced the people to summon the aid of the
Athenians, who secured Megara in battle' and by the construction
of long walls between the capital and its port Nisaea. In 445 a
revulsion of feeling led the Megarians to massacre their Athenian
garrison. The Athenians retaliated by placing an embargo upon
Megarian trade throughout their empire (432), and in the Pelopon-
nesian War, which the Megarians had consequently striven to
hasten on, reduced their neighbours to misery by blockade and
devastations, In 424 they nearly captured Megara, in collusion
with a democratic party within the town, and succeeded in securing
Nisaea, which they held till 410. In the 4th century Megara re-
covered some measure of prosperity, but played an insignificant
part in politics, its only notable move being the participation in
the final conflict against Philip II. of Macedon (338). During the
Macedonian supremacy the town passed in turn from Cassander
and Demetrius Poliorcetes to Antigonus Gonatas, and finally was
incorporated in the Achaean League. Megara suffered severely
during the Civil War of 48 B.C., but seems at some later period to
have received new settlers. It maintained itself as a place of some
size in subsequent centuries, but was depopulated by the Venetians
in a.d. 1500. The inhabitants of the modern village are mostly
of Albanian origin.
In literature Megara figures as the reputed home of the comedian
Susarion, and in the 4th century gave its name to a school of philo-
sophy founded by Euclid.
See Strabo ix. 391-395; Theognis; Thucydides i.-iv.; Aristo-
phanes, Acharnians, 729-835; F. Cauer, Parteien und Politiker in
Megara und Athen (Stuttgart, 1890), pp. 1-44; B. V. Head, Hisloria
numorum (Oxford, 1887), pp. 329-330; R. Delbriick and K. G.
Vollmoller, "Das Brunnenhaus des Theagenes," in Mitteil. d.
deutsch. Inst. Athen. XXV. (1900). (M. O. B. C.)
MEGARA HYBLAEA (perhaps identical with Hybla Major),
an ancient city of Sicily, on the E. coast, 12 m. N.N.W. of
Syracuse, founded in 728 B.C. by Megarean colonists, who had
previously settled successively at Trotilon, Leontini -and
Thapsus. A hundred years later it founded Selinus, apparently
because it had no room for development. It never seems to
have been a town of great importance, and had no advantages
of position. It was destroyed by Gelon about 481 B.C., and its
walls seem to have been razed to the ground. In the Athenian
expedition against Syracuse (415-413) Lamachus proposed
(it being then deserted) to make it the Athenian base of opera-
tions; but his advice was not taken, and in the next spring
the Syracusans fortified it. In 309 it was still fortified; but,
after Marcellus captured it, in 214, we hear little more of it.
Excavations carried on in 1891 led to the discovery of the
MEGARIAN SCHOOL— MEGATHERIUM
77
northern portion of the western town wall, which in one section
served at the same time as an embankment against floods
(it was apparently more conspicuous in the time of P. Cluver,
Sicilia, p. 133), of an extensive necropolis, about 1000 tombs
of which have been explored, and of a deposit of votive objects
from a temple. The harbour lay to the north of the town.
See P. Orsi in Monumenti dei Lincei (1891), i. 689-950; and Atti
del congresso delle scienze storiche, v. 181 (Rome, 1904). (T. As.)
MEGARIAN SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY. This school was
founded by Euclides of Megara, one of
the pupils of Socrates. Two main ele-
ments went to make up the Megarian
doctrine. Like the Cynics and the
Cyrenaics, Euclides started from the
Socratic principle that virtue is know-
ledge. But into combination with this
he brought the Eleatic doctrine of Unity.
Perceiving the difficulty of the Socratic
dictum he endeavoured to give to the
word " knowledge " a definite content by
divorcing it absolutely from the sphere
of sense and experience, and confining it
to a sort of transcendental dialectic or
logic. The Eleatic unity is Goodness,
and is beyond the sphere of sensible
apprehension. This goodness, therefore,
alone exists; matter, motion, growth
and decay are figments of the senses;
they have no existence for Reason.
" Whatever is, is ! " Knowledge is of
ideas and is in conformity with the
necessary laws of thought. Hence Plato
in the Sophist describes the Megarians
as " the friends of ideas." Yet the
Megarians were by no means in agreement with the Platonic
idealism. For they held that ideas, though eternal and im-
movable, have neither life nor action nor movement.
This dialectic, initiated by Euclides, became more and more
opposed to the testimony of experience; in the hands of Eubulides
and Alexinus it degenerated into hairsplitting, mainly in the
form of the reductio ad absurdum. The strength of these men
lay in destructive criticism rather than in construction: as
dialecticians they were successful, but they contributed little
to ethical speculation. They spent their energy in attacking
Plato and Aristotle, and hence earned the opprobrious epithet
of Eristic. They used their dialectic subtlety to disprove
the possibility of motion and decay; unity is the negation of
change, increase and decrease, birth and death. None the less,
in ancient times they received great respect owing to their
intellectual pre-eminence. Cicero (Academics, ii. 42) describes
their doctrine as a nobilis disciplina," and identifies them
closely with Parmenides and Zeno. But their most immediate in-
fluence was upon the Stoics (q.v.), whose founder, Zeno; studied
under Stilpo. This philosopher, a man of striking and attractive
personality, succeeded in fusing the Megarian dialectic with
Cynic naturalism. The result of the combination was in fact
a juxtaposition rather than a compound; it is manifestly impos-
sible to find an organic connexion between a practical code
like Cynicism and the transcendental logic of the Megarians.
But it served as a powerful stimulus to Zeno, who by descent
was imbued with oriental mysticism.
For bibliographical information about the Megarians, see
Euclides; Eubulides; Diodorus Cronus; Stilpo. See also
Eleatic School; Cynics; Stoics; and, for the connexion between
the Megarians and the Eretrians, Menedemus and Phaedo. Also
Zeller, Socrates and the Socratic Schools; Dyeck, De Megaricorum
doctrina (Bonn, 1827); Mallet, Histoire de Vicole de Migare (Paris,
1845); Ritter, Ober die Philosophie der'meg. Schule; _ Prantl,
Geschichte der Logik, i. 32; Henne, L'icole de Migare (Paris, 1843);
Gomperz, Greek Thinkers (Eng. trans. 1905), ii. 170 seq.
HEGARON, the principal hall of the ancient Greek palace,
situated in the andron or men's quarter. Examples have
been found at Tiryns and Mycenae, and references are made
to it in the Iliad and the Odyssey.
MEGATHERIUM (properly Megalotherium), a huge extinct
edentate mammal from the Pleistocene deposits of Buenos
Aires, typifying the family Megatheriidae (or Megalotheriidae),
and by far the largest representative of the Edentata. Except,
indeed, for its relatively shorter limbs Megatherium americanum
rivalled an elephant in bulk, the total length of the skeleton
being 18 feet, five of which are taken up by the tail. The
Megatheriidae, which include a number of genera, are collectively
Fig. 1. — Skeleton of the Megatherium, from the specimen in the Museum of the Royal
College of Surgeons of England.
known as ground-sloths, and occupy a position intermediate
between the sloths and the ant-eater: their skulls being of the
type of the former, while their limbs and vertebrae conform in
structure to those of the latter. As in the other typical South
American edentates, there are no teeth in the front of the jaws,
while those of the cheek-series usually comprise five pairs in the
upper aiid four in the lower. In nearly all the other Pleistocene
forms these teeth were subcylindrical in shape, with the summit
of the crown (except sometimes in the first pair) forming a
cup-like depression; enamel being in all
cases absent. From all these Mega-
therium differs in the form and struc-
ture of the teeth.
In form, as shown in fig. 2, the teeth
are quadrangular prisms, each of which is
surmounted by a pair of transverse ridges.
They grew apparently throughout life,
and were implanted to a great depth in
the jaws, being 7 or 8 in.' in length, with
a cross-section of at least an inch and a
half. The ridges on the crown are due
to the arrangement of the vertical layers
of hard dentine (fig. 3, &), softer vaso-
dentine (») and cement (c). The skull
is relatively small, with the lower jaw
very deep in its central portion, and pro-
duced in part into a long snout-like
symphysis for the reception, doubtless,
of a large and fleshy tongue (fig. 2).
Unlike sloths, the megatherium has seven
cervical vertebrae ; and the spines of all
the trunk-vertebrae incline backwards.
The pelvis and hind-limbs are much
more powerful than the fore-quarters;
thereby enabling these animals, in all
probability, to rear themselves on their
hind-quarters, and thus pull down the
branches of trees : if not, indeed, in some
cases to bodily uproot the trees them-
selves. Large chevron-bones are sus-
pended to the vertebrae of the tail,
which was massive, and probably afforded a support when the
monster was sitting up. The humerus has no foramen, and the
(From Owen.)
Fig. 2. — Lower Jaw and
Teeth of Megatherium.
8
MEGHNA— MEHEMET ALI
whole fore-limb was very mobile. The first front toe was rudimen-
tary, having no phalanges, but the fifth was rather less aborted, al-
though clawless; the other three carried enormous claws, protected
by reflected sheaths. The hind-foot is remarkable for the great back-
ward projection of the calcaneum, and likewise for the peculiar shape
of the astragalus; the middle toe alone carries a claw, this being
of huge size, and ensheathed like those of the fore foot. No trace
(From Owen.)
Fig. 3. — Section of Upper Molar Teeth of Megatherium.
of a bony armour in the skin has been detected; but, from the
evidence of other genera, it may be assumed that the body was
clothed in a coat of long, coarse hair. Although similar teeth
occur in the phosphorite beds of South Carolina, which may have
been transported from elsewhere, no undoubted remains of Mega-
therium are known from North America.
The typical species ranged from Argentina and Chili to Brazil,
for certain small ground-sloths from Patagonia with Megatherium-
like teeth, see Mylodon. . (R. L.*)
MEGHNA, a river of India. It forms, in the lower part of its
course, the great estuary of the Bengal delta, which conveys to
the sea the main body of the waters of the Ganges and the
Brahmaputra, which unite at Goalanda in Faridpur district.
The united waters, turbid and of great depth, are sometimes split
into half a dozen channels by sand-banks, sometimes spread into
a wide sheet of water. The river enters the sea by four principal
mouths, enclosing the three large islands of Dakshin Shahbazpur,
Hatia and Sandwip. It is navigable by native boats and river
steamers all the year; but the navigation is difficult and some-
times dangerous on account of shifting sand-banks and snags,
and boisterous weather when the monsoon is blowing. The most
favourable season is between November and February. Alluvion
and diluvion are constantly taking place, especially along the
seaboard, and in Noakhali district the land is said to have made
rapid advance on the sea; while the islands fringing the mouth
are annually being cut away and redeposited in fresh shapes.
The regular rise of the tide is from 10 to 18 ft., and at springs
the sea rushes up in a dangerous bore. It is greatest at the time
of the biennial equinoxes, when navigation is sometimes impeded
for days together. The tidal wave advances like a wall topped
with foam of the height of nearly 20 ft., and at the rate of 15 m.
an hour; in a few minutes it is past, and the river has changed
from ebb to flood tide. A still greater danger is the " storm
wave " which occasionally sweeps up the Meghna under a
cyclone.
MEHADIA, a market town of Hungary, in the county of
Krass6-Szoreny, 287 m. S.E. of Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900),
2492. The town is the site of the ancient Roman colony Ad
Mediant, near which passed the Roman road from the Danube
to Dacia. It contains the ruins of a fortress, and other Roman
remains. In its neighbourhood are the famous Hercules baths
(Hungarian, Herkulesfurdo). These are situated in a narrow
rocky ravine in the valley of the Cserna, where there are 22 hot
springs, of which nine are in use, the most powerful being the
Hercules spring. The springs are all strongly impregnated with
salts of sulphur, iodine, bromine and chlorine, and their average
temperature is 70 to 145° F. They were famous in the Roman
period under the name of Thermae Herculis or F antes Herculis.
Their popularity is attested by numerous inscriptions and relics.
After the fall of the Roman Empire they fell into disuse until 1 73 5,
but in modern times they have been much frequented.
MEHEMET ALI (1 760-1849), pasha and afterwards viceroy of
Egypt, was born at Kavala, a small seaport on the frontier of
Thrace and Macedonia. His father, an Albanian, was an aga, a
small yeoman farmer, and he himself lived in his native town for
many years as a petty official and trader in tobacco. In 1798
he became second in command of a regiment of bashi-bazouks, or
volunteers, recruited in his neighbourhood to serve against
Napoleon in Egypt. He took part in the battle of Aboukir
(July 25, 1799), was driven into the sea with the routed Turks,
and was saved from drowning by the gig of the British admiral,
Sir Sidney Smith. In 1801 he returned to Egypt, in command
of his regiment, and on the 9th of May distinguished himself
by heading a bold cavalry charge at the battle of Rahmanieh.
In the troubled years that followed, Mehemet Ali, leader of a
compact body of Albanian clansmen, was in the best position to
draw advantage from the struggle for power between the Mame-
lukes and the representatives of the Porte. In 1803 he cast in
his lot with the former; in 1804 he turned against them and
proclaimed his loyalty to the sultan; ina8o5 the sheiks of Cairo,
in the hope of putting a stop to the intolerable anarchy, elected
him pasha, and a year later an imperial firman confirmed their
choice. The disastrous British expedition of 1807 followed;
and while at Constantinople the prestige of the sultan was being
undermined by the series of revolutions which in 1808 brought
Mahmud II. to the throne, that of Mehemet Ali was enhanced by
the exhibition at Cairo of British prisoners and an avenue of
stakes decorated with the heads of British slain.
The situation revealed to the astute Albanian boundless
possibilities for gratifying his ambition. In spite of his chance
victories, he was too shrewd an observer not to recognize the
superiority of European methods of warfare; and as the first step
towards the empire of which he dreamed he determined to create
an army and a fleet on the European model. In 1808 the build-
ing and organization of the navy was begun with the aid of French
officers and engineers. In 181 1 the massacre of the Mamelukes
left Mehemet Ali without a rival in Egypt, while the foundations
of his empire beyond were laid by the war against the Wahhabls
and the conquest of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The
Wahhabi War, indeed, dragged on till 1818, when Ibrahim (q.v.),
the pasha's son, who in 1816 had driven the remnant of the
Mamelukes into Nubia, brought it to an end. This done, the
pasha turned his attention southward to the vast country
watered by the Upper Nile. In 1820 the oasis of Siwa was
subdued by his arms; in 1823 he laid the foundations of
Khartum.
By this time Mehemet Ali was the possessor of a powerful fleet
and of an army of veterans disciplined and drilled by European
officers. To obtain these money had been necessary; and to
raise money the pasha had instituted those internal " reforms "
— the bizarre system of state monopolies and the showy experi-
ments in new native industries which are described in the article
Egypt (q.v.). The inherent viciousness of these expedients had,
however, not as yet been revealed by their inevitable results,
and Mehemet Ali in the eyes of the world was at once the
most enlightened and the most powerful of the sultan's valis. To
Mahmud II., whose whole policy was directed to strengthening v -
the authority of the central power, this fact would have sufficed
to make him distrust the pasha and desire his overthrow; and
it was sorely against his will that, in 1822, the ill-success of
his arms against the insurgent Greeks forced him to summon
Mehemet Ali to his aid. The immediate price was the pashalik
of Crete; in the event of the victory of the Egyptian arms the
pashaliks of Syria and Damascus were to fall to Mehemet Ali,
that of the Morea to his son Ibrahim. The part played by Mehe-
met Ali in the Greek War is described elsewhere (see Turkey:
History; Greece: History; Greek Independence, War or;
MEHEMET ALI
79
Ibrahim). The intervention of the powers, culminating in the
shattering of the Egyptian fleet at Navarino (q.v.), robbed him
of his reward so far as Greece was concerned; the failure of his
arms in face of this intervention gave Sultan Mahmud the excuse
he desired for withholding the rest of the stipulated price of his
assistance.
This disappointment of his ambition would not perhaps in
itself have sufficed to stir Mehemet Ali to revolt against his
master; but it was ominous of perils to come, which the astute
pasha thought it wise to forestall. The sultan's policy had been
consistently directed to crushing the overgrown power of his
vassals; in the spring of 1831 two rebellious pashas, Hussein of
Bosnia and Mustafa of Scutari, had succumbed to his arms;
and, since he was surrounded and counselled by the personal
enemies of the pasha of Egypt, it was likely that, so soon as he
should feel himself strong enough, he would deal in like manner
with Mehemet Ali. It was to anticipate this peril that Mehemet
Ali determined himself to open the struggle: on the 1st of Novem-
ber 1 83 1 a force of 9000 Egyptian infantry and 2000 cavalry
crossed the frontier into Syria and met at Jaffa the fleet which
brought Ibrahim as commander-in-chief. The combined forces
at once laid siege to St Jean d'Acre.
The stubborn resistance of the garrison delayed Ibrahim's
progress; and, meanwhile, wild rumours went abroad as to Mehe-
met Ali's intentions. He was master of the holy cities, and the
official Moniteur Ottoman denounced his supposed plan of aiming
at the caliphate in collusion with the sherif of Mecca. As for
the pasha himself, he loudly disclaimed any such disloyal pre-
tensions; his aim was to chastise Abdulla, pasha of Acre, who had
harboured refugees from his " reforms "; to overthrow Khusrev,
who had encouraged him in his refusal to surrender them; to
secure the fulfilment of the sultan's promise with regard to Syria
and Damascus. Mahmud, on the other hand, was torn between
hatred of the pasha and hatred of the Christian powers which
had forced him to make concessions to the Greeks. Voices urged
him to come to terms with Mehemet Ali, secure peace in Islam,
and turn a united face of defiance against Europe; and for a while
he harboured the idea. He was conscious of his own intense
unpopularity, the outcome of his efforts at reform; he knew
that in popular opinion Mehemet Ali was the champion of Islam
against the infidel caliph, and that the issue of a struggle with him
was more than doubtful. He was hampered by the unpaid debt
to Russia; by unrest in Bosnia and Albania; above all, by the
revolt of the Greek Islands, which had left his navy, deprived
of its best sailors, in no condition to dispute the Egyptian com-
mand of the sea. In the end, however, his pride prevailed; in
April 1833 the Turkish commander-in-chief Hussein Pasha left
Constantinople for the front; and in the third week in May the
ban of outlawry was launched against Mehemet Ali.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim had occupied Gaza and Jerusalem as well
as Jaffa; on the 27th of May, a few days after the publication
of the ban, Acre was stormed; on the 15th of June the Egyptians
occupied Damascus. Ibrahim pressed on with characteristic
rapidity, his rapid advance being favoured by the friendly
attitude of the various sections of the Syrian population, whom
he had been at pains to conciliate. He defeated the Ottoman
advance-guard at Horns on the oth of July and at Hamah on
the nth, entered Aleppo on the 17th, and on the 29th inflicted
a crushing defeat on the main Turkish army under Hussein
Pasha at the pass of Beilan. All Syria was lost to the sultan,
and the Egyptian advance-guard passed the mountain defiles
into Adana in Asia Minor.
Mahmud, in desperation, now turned for help to the powers.
Russian aid, though promptly offered, was too double-edged a
weapon to be used save at the last extremity. Austrian diplo-
macy was, for the moment, that of Russia. France had broken
her long traditioh of friendship for Turkey by the occupation
of Algiers. Great Britain, prodigal of protestations of goodwill,
alone remained ; and to her Mahmud turned with a definite offer
of an offensive and defensive alliance. Stratford Canning, who
was at Constantinople for the purpose of superintending the
negotiations for the delimitation of the frontiers of Greece, wrote
home urging the government to accept, and suggesting a settle-
ment of the Egyptian question which foreshadowed that of 1841.
Palmerston, however, did not share Canning's belief in the
possible regeneration of Turkey; he held that an isolated inter-
vention of Great Britain would mortally offend not only Russia
but France, and that Mehemet Ali, disappointed of his ambitions,
would find in France a support that would make him doubly
dangerous. 1
In the autumn Sultan Mahmud, as a last independent effort,
despatched against Ibrahim the army which, under Reshid
Pasha, had been engaged in pacifying Albania. The result was
the crowning victory of the Egyptians at Konia (Dec. 21). The
news reached Constantinople at the same time as Count Muraviev
arrived on a special mission from the tsar. The Russian offers
were at once renewed of a squadron of battleships and of a land
force for the protection of the capital. Efforts were made to
escape the necessity of accepting the perilous aid. • Ottoman
agents, backed by letters from the French charge d'affaires, were
sent to Mehemet Ali and to Ibrahim, to point out the imminence
of Russian intervention and to offer modified terms. Muraviev
himself went to Alexandria, where, backed by the Austrian agent,
Count Prokesch-Osten, he announced to the pasha the tsar's
immutable hatred of rebels. Mehemet Ali merely protested the
complete loyalty of his intentions; Ibrahim, declaring that as a
soldier he had no choice but to obey his father's orders, advanced
to Afium-Karahissar and Kutaiah, whence he wrote to the sultan
asking his gracious permission to advance to Brusa. He was at
the head of 100,000 men, well organized and flushed with victory;
the Ottoman army survived only as demoralized rabble. Panic
seized the Seraglio; and at the beginning of February the assis-
tance of Russia was formally demanded. The representatives
of France and Great Britain made every effort to secure a
reversal of this fatal step; but, while they were threatening
and promising, Russia was acting, and on the 20th of February
a Russian squadron entered the Bosporus.
In view of this it became necessary for the objecting powers to
take a new line. The new French ambassador, Admiral Roussin,
had arrived on the 17th; he now, with the full concurrence of
Mandeville, the British charge d'affaires, persuaded the Porte to
invite the Russians to withdraw, undertaking that France would
secure the acceptance by Mehemet Ali of the sultan's terms.
A period of suspense followed. The Russian squadron was
detained by contrary winds, and before it could sail peremptory
orders arrived from the tsar for it to remain until Ibrahim should
have repassed the Taurus mountains. Meanwhile, Mehemet Ali
had scornfully rejected the offers of the Porte; he would be con-
tent with nothing but the concession of his full demands — Syria,
Icheli, Aleppo, Damascus and Adana. France and Great Britain
now urged the sultan to yield, and in March a Turkish agent
was sent to Ibrahim to offer the pashaliks of Syria, Aleppo and
Damascus. The crisis was precipitated by the arrival on the 5th
of April of a second division of the Russian fleet in the Bosporus,
and of a Russian force of 6000 men, which landed on the Asiatic
shore. The Porte now tried once more to modify its terms; but
the Western powers were now intent on getting rid of the Russians
at all costs, and as a result of the pressure they brought to bear
on both parties the preliminary convention of Kutaiah, conced-
ing all the Egyptian demands, was signed on the 8th of April, and
Ibrahim began his withdrawal. The convention stipulated for
the bestowal of the pashalik of Adana on Ibrahim ; but when on
the 16th he received the official list of appointments, he found-,
that Adana had been expressly reserved by the sultan. He at
once arrested his march ; but the pressure of famine in the capital,
caused by the cutting off of supplies from Asia and the presence
of the large Russian force, compelled Mahmud to yield, and on the
3rd of May a firman ceded Adana to Ibrahim under the pretext of
appointing him muhassil, or collector of the revenue.
When Lord Ponsonby, the new British ambassador, arrived at
1 Canning's original memorandum is in the Foreign Office Records
in the volume marked F.O., Turkey: From Sir Stratford Canning
(August to December, 1832). It bears elaborate pencil notes in
Palmerston's handwriting, in part already obliterated.
8o
MEHEMET ALI
Constantinople on the ist of May he found Russia practically in
possession. Sultan Mahmud was to the last degree embittered
against the powers which, with lively protestations of friendship,
had forced him to humiliate himself before his hated vassal.
Russia had given him deeds, not words; and to Russia he com-
mitted himself. A further contingent of six or seven thousand
Russians had arrived on the 22nd of April; Russian engineers
were busy with the fortifications along the Straits; Russian
agents alone were admitted to the sultan's presence. "It is
manifest," wrote Lord Ppnsonby, " that the Porte stands in the
relation of vassal to the Russian government." 1 The relation
was soon to be yet more manifest. Before, on the 9th of July,
the Russian fleet, with the Russian troops on board, weighed
anchor for the Black Sea, there was signed at the palace of
Unkiar Skelassi the famous treaty (July 8, 1833) which, under
the guise of an offensive and defensive alliance, practically
made Russia the custodian of the gates of the Black Sea. (See
Turkey: History.)
Mehemet Ali had triumphed, but he was well aware that he
held the fruits of his victory by a precarious tenure. He was
still but a vali among the rest, holding his many pashaliks
nominally by the sultan's will and subject to annual re-
appointment; and he knew that both his power and his life
would be forfeit so soon as the sultan should be strong
enough to deprive him of them. To achieve this one end
had, indeed, become the overmastering passion of Mahmud's
life, to defeat it the object of all Mehemet Ali's policy. So
early as 1834 it seemed as though the struggle would be
renewed; for Mehemet Ali had extended to his new pashaliks
his system of monopolies and conscription, and the Syrians,
finding that they had exchanged Turkish whips for Egyptian
scorpions, rose in a passion of revolt. It needed the inter-
vention of Mehemet Ali in person before, in the following year,
they were finally subdued. Meanwhile it had needed all the
diplomatic armoury of the powers to prevent Mahmud hastening
to the assistance of his " oppressed subjects." The threats of
Great Britain and France, the failure of Russia to back him up,
induced him to refrain; but sooner or later a renewalof the war
was inevitable; for the sultan, with but one end in view, was
reorganizing his army, and Mehemet Ah, who in the autumn of
1834 had assumed the style of viceroy and sounded the powers
as to their attitude in the event of his declaring his complete
independence, refused to continue to pay tribute which he knew
would be used against himself.
The crisis came in 1838. In March the Egyptians were severely
defeated by the revolted Arabs of the Hauran; and the Porte,
though diplomatic pressure kept it quiet, hurried on prepara-
tions for war. Mehemet Ah, too, had small reason for post-
poning the conflict. The work of Moltke, who with other
German officers who had been engaged in organizing the Turkish
army, threatened to destroy his superiority in the field; the
commercial treaty signed by the Ottoman government with
Great Britain (Aug. 16), which applied equally to all the
territories under his rule, threatened to destroy at a blow the
lucrative monopolies which supplied him with the sinews of war.
Months of suspense followed; for the powers had threatened to
cast their weight into the scale against whichever side should
prove the aggressor, and Mehemet Ali was too astute to make
the first move. In the end Mahmud's passion played into his
hands. The old sultan thirsted to crush his rebellious vassal,
at any cost; and on the 21st of April 1839 the Ottoman army,
stationed at Bir on the Euphrates, crossed the stream and invaded
Syria. On the 23rd of June it was attacked and utterly routed
by Ibrahim at Nezib. On the ist of July the old sultan died,
unconscious of the fatal news, leaving his throne to Abd-
ul-Mejid, a lad of sixteen. To complete the desperateness of
the situation the news reached the capital that Ahmed Pasha,
the Ottoman admiral-in-chief, had sailed to Alexandria and
surrendered his fleet to Mehemet Ali, on the pretext that the
sultan's advisers were sold to the Russians.
So far as the forces of the Ottoman Empire were concerned,
1 From Lord Ponsonby, F.O., Turkey, May 22, 1833.
Mehemet Ah was now absolute master of the situation. The
grand vizier, in the sultan's name, wrote beseeching him to
avoid the further shedding of Mussulman blood, offering him a
free pardon, the highest honours of the state, the hereditary
pashalik of Egypt for himself, and Syria for Ibrahim until he
should succeed his father in Egypt. Mehemet Ali replied diplo-
matically; for, though these offers fell far short of his ambitions,
a studious moderation was essential in view of the doubtful
attitude of the European powers.
On the 27th of July the ambassadors of the five powers pre-
sented to the Porte a joint note, in which they declared that an
agreement on the Eastern Question had been reached by the five
Great Powers, and urged it " to suspend all definite decision made
without their concurrence, pending the effect of their interest in
its welfare." The necessity for showing a united front justified
the diplomatic inexactitude; but the powers were agreed on
little except the need for agreement. Especially was this need
realized by the British government, which feared that Russia
would seize the occasion for an isolated intervention under the
treaty of Unkiar Skelessi. On the ist of August Palmerston
wrote to Ponsonby impressing upon him that the representatives
of the powers, in their communications with the Porte, " should
act not only simultaneously in point of time, but identically in
point of manner "—a principle important in view of later develop-
ments. Yet it was a task all but impossible to preserve this
appearance of unanimity in view of the divergent views within
the concert. France and Great Britain had hitherto acted
together through common opposition to the supposed designs of
Russia. Austria, too, now that the revolutionary spectres of
1830 had been laid, was reverting to her traditional opposition
to Russia in the affairs of the Near East, and Metternich sup-
ported Palmerston's proposal of an international conference at
Vienna. Everything depended on the attitude of the emperor
Nicholas. This was ultimately determined by his growing dis-
trust of Austria and his perennial hatred of the democratic regime
of France. The first caused him to reject the idea of a conference
of which the activities would have been primarily directed against
Russia; the second led him to drive a wedge into the Anglo-
French entente by making direct overtures to Great Britain.
Palmerston listened to the tsar's proposals, conveyed through
Baron Brunnow, " with surprise and admiration." The emperor
Nicholas was prepared to accept the views of Great Britain on the
Turco-Egyptian question; to allow the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi
to lapse; to act henceforth in the Ottoman Empire only in concert
with the other powers, in return for an agreement closing the
Dardanelles to the war-ships of all nations and to extend the same
principle to the Bosporus. Finally, Brunnow was empowered
to arrange a coalition of the great powers with a view to the
settlement of the Egyptian question; and in this coalition the
tsar was willing, for political reasons, that France should be
included, though he stated his personal preference for her
exclusion.
To these views Austria and, as a natural consequence, Prussia
acceded without difficulty. The attitude of France was a more
doubtful quantity. In France Mehemet Ali had become a
popular hero; under him French civilization had gained a foothold
in Egypt; he was regarded as invincible; and it was hoped that
in alliance with him French influence in the Mediterranean would
be supreme. Palmerston, on the other hand, believed that the
Ottoman empire would never be secure until " the desert had
been placed between " the pasha of Egypt and the sultan; and
the view that the coalition should be directed against Mehemet
Ali was shared by the other powers. In the circumstances
France should either have loyally accepted the decision of the
majority of the concert, to which she had committed herself by
signing the joint note of the 27th of July, or should have frankly
stated her intention of taking up a position outside. The fact
that she did neither led to a crisis that for a moment threatened
to plunge Europe into war.
For nearly a year the diplomatic pourparlers continued without
an agreement being reached; France insisted on Mehemet Ali's
receiving the hereditary pashalik of Syria as well as that of
MEHEMET ALI
81
Egypt, a proposition to which Palmerston, though sincerely-
anxious to preserve the Anglo-French entente, refused to agree.
The tension of the situation was increased when, on the 20th of
February 1840, Thiers came into power. The diplomacy of
Guizot, backed now by Austria and Prussia, had succeeded in
persuading Palmerston to concede the principle of allowing
Mehemet Ah to receive, besides Egypt, the pashalik of Acre as
far as the frontiers of Tripoli and Damascus (May 7). Thiers,
however, refused to listen to any suggestion for depriving him
of any part of Syria; but, instead of breaking off the corre-
spondence and leaving the concert, he continued the negotiations,
and before long circumstances came to the knowledge of the
British government which seemed to prove that he was only
doing so with a view to gaining time in order to secure a separate
settlement in accordance with French views.
The opportunity for this arose from a change in the situation
at Constantinople, where the dismissal of Khusrev Pasha had, in
Mehemet Ali's view, removed the main obstacle to his reconcilia-
tion with the sultan. He proposed to the French consul-general
at Alexandria to make advances to the Porte, and suggested
sending back the Ottoman fleet as an earnest of his good inten-
tions, a course which, it was hoped, " would lead to a direct and
amicable arrangement of the Turco-Egyptian question." On
the 21st of June his envoy, Sami Bey, actually arrived at Con-
stantinople, ostensibly to congratulate the sultan on the birth of a
daughter, really to make use of the French influence now supreme
at the Porte in order to effect a settlement. In the circumstances
the proper course for Thiers to have pursued would have been to
have communicated to the powers, to whom he was bound by
the moral engagement of the 27th of July 1839, the new conditions
arising out of Mehemet Ali's offer. Instead he wrote to Guizot,
on the 30th of June, saying that the situation argued strongly
in favour of postponing any decision in London, adding: " I
have written to Alexandria and Constantinople to counsel
moderation on both sides; but I have been careful to forbid the
agents to enter on their own account, and as a French under-
taking, on a negotiation of which the avowed aim is a direct
arrangement. If such an enterprise is imputed to us, you will be
in a position to deny it."
The discovery of what seemed an underhand intrigue on the
part of France produced upon the powers exactly the effect that
Thiers had foreseen and deprecated. They regarded it as an
attempt to ruin the work of the concert and to secure for France
a " complete individual triumph " at Alexandria and Constanti-
nople, and their countermove was to sign at London on the 15th
of July, without the concurrence of France, a convention with
the Porte for the settlement of the affairs of the Levant. By this
instrument it was agreed that the terms to be offered to Mehemet
Ali having been concerted with the Porte, the signatory powers
would unite their forces in order to compel the pasha to accept
the settlement. As to the terms to be offered, it was arranged
that, in the event of Mehemet Ali yielding within ten days, he
should receive the hereditary pashalik of Egypt and the admini-
stration for life of southern Syria, with the title of Pasha of Acre
and the possession of the fortress of St Jean d'Acre. At the end
of ten days, should he remain obdurate, the offer of Syria and
Acre would be withdrawn; and if at the end of another ten days
he was still defiant, the sultan would hold himself at liberty to
withdraw the whole offer and to take such measures as his own
interests and the counsels of his allies might suggest to him.
The news of this " mortal affront " to the honour of France
caused immense excitement in Paris. The whole press was
clamorous for war; Thiers declared that the alliance with Great
Britain was shattered, and pressed on warlike preparations;
even Louis Philippe was carried away by the fever. The
immediate effect was that Mehemet Ali, confident of French
assistance, maintained a defiant attitude. The situation,
however, was rapidly changed by the unexpected results of the
armed intervention of the Allies. The appearance of the com-
bined British, Austrian and Russian fleets, under Sir Charles
Napier, off Beirut (Aug. n) was the signal for a general rising
of the Syrians against Ibrahim's tyranny. On the nth of
Septernber, Suleiman Pasha not having obeyed the summons
to evacuate the town, the bombardment was begun, and Otto-
man troops were landed to co-operate with the rebels. On the
3rd of October Beirut fell; and Ibrahim, cut off from his com-
munications by sea, and surrounded by a hostile population,
began a hurried retreat southward. On the 3rd of November
Acre surrendered to the allied fleet. Mehemet Ali's power in
Syria had collapsed like a pricked bubble; and with it had gone
for ever the myth of his humane and enlightened rule. The sole
question now was whether he should be allowed to retain
Egypt itself.
On the 15th of September the sultan, who had broken off all
negotiations with Mehemet Ah on receipt of the news of the
Syrian revolt, acting on the advice of Lord Ponsonby, declared
the pasha deposed, on the ground that the term allowed by the
Convention of London had expired, and nominated his successor.
Mehemet Ah received the news with his accustomed sang-froid,
observing to the consuls of the four powers, who had come to
notify their own removal, that " such denunciations were nothing
new to him; that this was the fourth, and that he hoped to get
over it as well as he had done the other three, with the help of
God and the Prophet." In the end his confidence proved to be
justified. The news of the events in Syria and especially of the
deprivation of Mehemet Ali had produced in France what
appeared to be an exceedingly dangerous temper; the French
government declared that it regarded the maintenance of Mehe-
met Ah in Egypt as essential to the European balance of power;
and Louis Philippe sought to make it clear to the British govern-
ment, through the king of the Belgians, that, whatever might
be his own desire to maintain peace, in certain events to do so
would be to risk his throne. Palmerston, indeed, who did not
believe that under the Bourgeois Monarchy France would trans-
late her brave words into action, was in favour of settling the
Turco-Egyptian question once for all by depriving Mehemet Ali
of Egypt as well. The influences against him, however, were too
powerful. Metternich protested against a course which would
result, in his opinion, either in a war or a revolution in France;
King Leopold enlarged on the wickedness and absurdity of
risking a European war for the sake of putting an end to the
power of an old man who could have but few years to live;
Queen Victoria urged her ministers to come to terms with France
and relieve the embarrassments of the " dear King "; and Lord
Melbourne, with the majority of the cabinet, was in favour of
compromise. When therefore, on the 8th of October, Guizot,
in an interview with Palmerston, presented what was practically
an ultimatum on the part of France, " it was determined that this
intimation should be met in a friendly spirit, and that Lord
Palmerston should seethe Ministers of the other powers and agree
with them to acquaint the French that they with England would
use their good offices to induce the Porte not to insist on the
deprivation of Mehemet Ali so far as Egypt is concerned." In
accordance with this Palmerston instructed Ponsonby to press
upon the sultan, in the event of Mehemet Ali's speedy submission,
not only to withdraw the sentence of deprivation but to confer
upon him the hereditary pashalik of Egypt.
For a while it seemed that even this would not avert a Euro-
pean war. Thiers still maintained his warlike tone, and the
king's speech prepared by him for the opening of the Chambers
on the 28th of October was in effect a declaration of defiance to
Europe. Louis Philippe himself, however, was not prepared
to use this language; whereupon Thiers resigned, and a~mew
cabinet was formed under Marshal Soult, with Guizot as foreign
secretary. The equivocal tone of the new speech from the Throne
raised a storm of protest in the Chambers and the country. It
was, however, soon clear that Palmerston's diagnosis of the
temper of the French bourgeois was correct ; the clamour for war
subsided; on the 4th of December the address on the Egyptian
Question proposed by the government was carried, and peace was
assured. Nine days earlier Sir Charles Napier had appeared with a
British squadron off Alexandria and, partly by persuasion, partly
by threats; had induced Mehemet Ali to submit to the sultan
and to send back the Ottoman fleet, in return for a guarantee
82
MEHIDPUR— MEIKTILA
of the hereditary pashalik of Egypt. This arrangement was
ratified by Palmerston; and all four powers now combined to
press it on the reluctant Porte, pointing out, in a joint note of the
30th of January 1841, that " they were not conscious of advising
a course out of harmony with the sovereignty and legitimate
rights of the sultan, or contrary to the duties imposed on the
Pasha of Egypt as a subject appointed by His Highness to govern
a province of the Ottoman Empire." This principle was elabor-
ated in the firman, issued on the 13th of February, by which the
sultan conferred on Mehemet Ali and his heirs by direct descent
the pashalik of Egypt, the greatest care being taken not to bestow
any rank and authority greater than that enjoyed by other
viziers of the empire. By a second firman of the same date
Mehemet Ah was invested with the government of Nubia, Darfur,
Khordofan and Sennaar, with their dependencies. On the 10th
of June the firman was solemnly promulgated at Alexandria.
Thus ended the phase of the Egyptian Question with which
the name of Mehemet Ali is specially bound up. The threatened
European conflict had been averted, and presently the wounded
susceptibilities of France were healed by the invitation extended
to her to take part in the Straits Convention. As for Mehemet
Ah himself, he now passes off the stage of history. He was an
old man; his mind was soon to give way; and for some time
before his death on the 2nd of August 1849 the reins of power were
held by his son and successor Ibrahim.
Probably no Oriental ruler, not even excepting Ali of Iannina,
has ever stirred up so much interest among his contemporaries
as Mehemet Ali. The spectacle of an Eastern despot apparently
advancing on the lines of European progress was in itself as
astonishing as new. Men thought they were witnessing the
dawn of a new era in the East; Mehemet Ali was hailed as the
most beneficent and enlightened of princes; and political philo-
sophers like Jeremy Bentham, who sent him elaborate letters
of good advice, thought to find in him the means for developing
their theories in virgin soil. In fact the pasha was an illiterate
barbarian, of the same type as his countryman Ah of Iannina,
courageous, cruel, astute, full of wiles, avaricious and boundlessly
ambitious. He never learned to read or write, though late in life
he mastered colloquial Arabic; yet those Europeans who were
brought into contact with him praised alike the dignity and
charm of his address, his ready wit, and the astonishing
perspicacity which enabled him to read the motives of men
and of governments and to deal effectively with each situation
as it arose.
The latest account of Mehemet Ali and the European crisis
arising out of his revolt is that by W. Alison Phillips in vol. x.
ch. xvii. of the Cambridge Modern History (1907). The biblio-
graphy attached to this chapter (p. 852) gives a list of all the principal
published documents and works, together with some analysis
of the unpublished Foreign Office records bearing on the subject.
Of the works mentioned C. de Freycinet's La Question d'£gypte
(Paris, 1905) gives the most authoritative account of the diplomatic
developments. (W. A. P.)
MEHIDPUR, or Mahidpur, a town of India, in Indore
state of Central India, on the right bank of the Sipra, 1543 ft.
above the sea, and 24 m. N. of Ujjain. Pop. (1901), 6681.
Though of some antiquity and frequented by Hindu pilgrims,
it is best known for the battle fought in the neighbourhood
on the 20th of December 181 7, in which Sir John Malcolm
defeated the army of Holkar. The result was the Treaty of
Mandasor and the pacification of Malwa. Mehidpur was
again the scene of some sharp fighting during the Mutiny.
The British cantonment, placed here in 181 7, was removed
in 1882.
MEHUL, ETIENNE HENRI (or Etienne Nicolas) (1763-
1817), French composer, was born at Givet in Ardennes, on
the 24th of June 1763. His father being too poor to give him
a regular musical education, his first ideas of art were derived
from a poor blind organist of Givet; yet such was his aptitude
that, when ten years old, he was appointed organist of the con-
vent of the Recollets. In 1775 an able German musician and
organist, Wilhelm Hauser, was engaged for the monastery
of Lavaldieu, a few miles from Givet, and M6hul became his
occasional pupil. In 1778 he was taken to Paris by a military
officer, and placed himself under Edelmann, a good musician and
harpsichord player. His first attempts at instrumental com-
position in 1 781 did not succeed, and he therefore turned his
attention to sacred and dramatic music. Gluck gave him advice
in his studies. After various disappointments during his
efforts for six years to obtain, at the Grand Opera, a representa-
tion of his Cora et Alonzo, he offered to the Opera Comique
his Euphrosine et Coradin, which, being accepted and performed
in 1790, at once fixed his reputation. His opera of Stratonice
was also received with enthusiasm in 1792. After several
unsuccessful operas, his Adrien appeared, and added much
to his fame, which was further increased by his three best
works, Le Jeune Henri, Uthal and Joseph, the finest of the
series. Uthal was written for an orchestra without violins.
Mehul held a post as one of the four inspectors of the Paris
Conservatoire, but this office made him feel continually the
insufficiency of his early studies, a want which he endeavoured
to remedy by incessant application. TimoUon, Ariodant
and Bion followed. Epicure was composed by Mehul and
Cherubini jointly; but the superiority of the latter was evident.
Mehul's next opera, L'Irato, failed. After writing forty-two
operas, besides a number of songs for the festivals of the republic,
cantatas, and orchestral pieces of various kinds, his health
gave way, from an affection of the chest, and he died on the .
18th of October 181 7 in Paris.
See Lives by Pougin (1889), Viellard (1859), and Quatremere de
Quincey (1818).
MEIBOM, HEINRICH (1555-1625), German historian and
poet, was born at Lemgo on the 4th of December 1555, and
died on the 20th of September 1625, at Helmstedt, where he
had held the chair of history and poetry since 1583. He was
a writer of Latin verses (Parodiarum horatianarum libri III.
et sylvarum libri II., 1588); and his talents in this direction
were recognized by the emperor Rudolph II., who ennobled him;
but his claim to be remembered rests on his services in elucidat-
ing the medieval history of Germany.
His Opuscula historica ad res germanicas spectantia was edited
and published in 1660 by his grandson, Heinrich Meibom (1638-
1700), who was professor of medicine and then of history and poetry
at Helmstedt, and incorporated his grandfather's work with his
own Rerum germanicarum scriptores (1688).
MEIDERICH, a town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine
province, 23 m. by rail N.E. of Ruhrort, whose river harbour
is in great part within its confines. Pop. (1905), 40,822. Iron
and steel works, coal-mines, saw-mills, brickworks, and machine-
shops furnish the principal occupations of the inhabitants.
Meiderich, which is first mentioned in 874, was united with
Duisburg in 1905.
See Graeber, Tausendjahrige Geschichte von Meiderich (1893).
MEIKTILA, a district and division in Upper Burma. The
district is the most easterly of the districts in the dry zone,
and has an area of 2183 sq. m. It lies between KyauksS,
Myingyan, Yamethin, and on the east touches the Shan States.
It is a slightly undulating plain, the gentle slopes of which are
composed of black " cotton " soil and are somewhat arid. The
only hills above 300 ft. are on the slopes of the Shan hills.
The lake is the chief feature of the district. It is artificial,
and according to Burmese legend was begun 2400 years ago
by the grandfather of Gautama Buddha. It is 7 m. long,
averages half a mile broad, and covers an area of 35 sq. m<
With the Minhla and other connected lakes it irrigates a large"
extent of country.
There are small forest reserves, chiefly of cutch. Large
numbers of cattle are bred. The chief agricultural products
are rice, sesamum, cotton, peas, maize, millet and gram. Pop.
(1901), 252,305. Famines in 1891, 1895 and 1896 led to con-
siderable emigration. The climate is healthy except in the
submontane townships. The temperature rises to ioo° F.
and over between the months of March and June, and the
mean minimum in January is about 61°. The rainfall is uncer-
tain (36-79 in. in 1893, 25-59 in 1891). The vast majority
MEILHAC— MEIR OF ROTHENBURG
83
of the population are Buddhists. The headquarters town,
Meiktila, stands on the banks of the lake, which supplies
good drinking water. Pop. (1001), 7203. A wing of a British
regiment is stationed here. A branch railway connects it
at Thazi station with the Rangoon-Mandalay line, and continues
westward to its terminus on the Irrawaddy at Myingyan.
The division includes the districts of Meiktila, Kyaukse,
Yamethin and Myingyan, with a total area of 10,852 sq. m.,
and a population (1901) of 992,807, showing an increase of
10-2% in the preceding decade, and giving a density of 91
inhabitants to the square mile. All but a small portion of the
division lies in the dry zone, and cultivation is mainly dependent
on irrigation.
MEILHAC, HENRI (1831-1897), French dramatist, was
born in Paris on the 21st of February 1831, and while a young
man began writing fanciful articles for the newspapers and
vaudevilles for the theatres, in a vivacious boulevardier spirit
which brought him to the front. About i860 he met Ludovic
Halevy, and the two began a collaboration in writing for the
stage which lasted for twenty years. An account of their
work is given under Halevy. Meilhac wrote a few pieces
with lesser collaborators. In 1888 he was elected to the
Academy. He died at Paris in 1897.
MEINBERG, a village and watering-place of Germany, in
the principality of Lippe Detmold, situated in a pleasant valley
under the Teutoburger Wald, 12 m. S.E. from Detmold by the
railway to Altenbeken. Pop. (1905), 1300. The waters of
Meinberg, which attract annually about 1200 visitors, are
sulphur springs, and are used for drinking, bathing and inhala-
tion. They became known in the 18th century.
See Gilbert and Meissner, Bad Meinberg und seine Kurmitlel
(Berlin, 1902).
HEINEKE, JOHANN ALBRECHT FRIEDRICH AUGUST
(1790-1870), German classical scholar, was born at Soest in
Westphalia on the 8th of December 1790. After holding
educational posts at Jenkau and Danzig, he was director of
the Joachimsthal gymnasium in Berlin from 1826 to 1856.
He died at Berlin on the 12th of December 1870. He was
distinguished in conjectural criticism, the comic writers and
Alexandrine poets being his favourite authors.
His most important works are: Graecorum comicorum fragmenta
(1839-1857, the first volume of which contains an essay on the
development of Greek comedy and an account of its chief repre-
sentatives) ; Aristophanes (i860) ; Analecta alexandrina (1843,
containing the fragments of Rhianus, Euphorion, Alexander of
Aetolia, and Parthenius) ; Callimachus (1861); Theocritus, Bion,
Moschus (3rd ed., 1856); Alciphron (1853); Strabo (2nd ed., 1866)
and Vindiciae slrabonianae (1852) ; Stobaeus> (1855-1863) ; Athenaeus
(1858-1867). See monographs by F. Ranke (1871), H. Sauppe (1872),
and E. Forstemann in Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, XXI. (1885) ;
also Sandys, Hist. Class. Schol. (1908), iii. 117.
HEININGEN, a town of Germany, capital of the duchy of
Saxe-Meiningen, romantically situated in forests on the right
bank of the Werra, 40 m. S. of Eisenach by rail. Pop. (1905),
15,989. It consists of an old town and several handsome
suburbs, but much of the former has been rebuilt since a fire
in 1874. The chief building is the Elisabethenburg, or the
old ducal palace, containing several collections; it was built
mainly about 1680, although part of it is much older. Other
buildings are the Henneberger Haus with a collection of antiqui-
ties, and the town church, with twin towers, built by the emperor
Henry II. in the nth century. The theatre enjoyed for many
years (1875-1890) a European reputation for its actors and
scenic effects. The English garden, a beautiful public park,
contains the ducal mortuary chapel and several monuments,
including busts of Brahms and Jean Paul Richter.
Meiningen, which was subject to the bishops of Wiirzburg
( 1 000-1542), came into the possession of the duke of Saxony
in 1583, having in the meantime belonged to the counts of
Henneberg. At the partition of 1660 it fell to the share of
Saxe-Altenburg, and in 1680 became the capital of Saxe-
Meiningen.
See E. Dobner, Bausteine zu einer Geschichte der Sladt Meiningen
(Meiningen, 1902).
MElR, Jewish rabbi of the 2nd century, was born in Asia
Minor and according to legend was a descendant of the family
of Nero. He was the most notable of the disciples of Aqiba
{q.ii.), and after the Hadrianic repressions of a.d. 135 was
instrumental in refounding the Palestinian schools at Usha.
Among his teachers was also Elisha ben Abuya (q.v.), and.
Mei'r continued his devotion to Elisha after the latter's apostasy.
He is said to" have visited Rome to rescue his wife's sister.
His wife, Beruriah, is often cited in the Talmud as an exemplar
of generosity and faith. She was a daughter of the martyr
Hananiah ben Teradion. On one occasion Meir, who had
been frequently troubled by his ungodly neighbours, uttered
a prayer for their extinction. " Nay," said Beruriah, " it is
written (Ps. civ. 35) let sins be blotted out, not sinners ";
whereupon Mei'r prayed for the evildoers' conversion. But
she is best known for her conduct at the sudden death of her
two sons. It was the Sabbath, and Meir returned home towards
sunset. He repeatedly asked for the children, and Beruriah,
after parrying his question, said: " Some time ago a precious
thing was left with me on trust, and now the owner demands
its return. Must I give it back ? " " How can you question
it?" rejoined her husband. Beruriah then led him to the bed
whereon were stretched the bodies of the children. Mei'r burst
into tears. But the wife explained that this was the treasure
of which she had spoken, adding the text from Job: " The
Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name
of the Lord." Meir himself was the author of many famous
sayings: " Look not to the flask, but to its contents. Many
a new vessel contains old wine, but there are old casks which
do not contain even new wine." " Condole not with a mourner
while his dead is laid out before him." " Man cometh into
the world with closed hands as though claiming the ownership
of all things; but he departeth hence with hands open and
limp, as if to show that he taketh naught with him." " What
God does is well done." " The tree itself supplies the handle
of the axe which cuts it down." His wisdom was proverbial,
and to him was in particular assigned an intimate acquaintance
with fables, and he is reported to have known 300 Fox-Fables.
" With the death of Rabbi Meir," says the Mishnah (Sota ix. 15),
" Fabulists ceased to be."
Meir's wide sympathies were shown in his inclusion of all
mankind in the hopes of salvation (Sifra to Leviticus xviii.
5). He was certainly on friendly terms with heathen scholars.
Meir contributed largely to the material from which finally
emerged the Mishnah. His dialectic skill was excessive, and
it was said jestingly of him that he could give 150 reasons to
prove a thing clean, and as many more to prove it unclean.
His balanced judgment fitted him to carry on Aqiba's work,
sifting and arranging the oral traditions, and thus preparing
the ground for the Mishnaic Code.
Meir left Palestine some time before his death, owing to
disagreements between him and the Patriarch. He died in
Asia Minor, but his love for the Holy Land remained dominant
to the last. " Bury me," he said, " by the shore, so that the
sea which washes the land of my fathers may touch also my
bones." The tomb shown as that of Meir at Tiberias is
inauthentic. -■■■-
See Bacher, Agada der Tannaiten, vol. n. ch. i. ; Graetz, History of
the Jews (Eng. trans.), vol. n. ch. xvi.; Jewish Encyclopedia (whence
some of the above cited sayings are quoted), viii. 4.32-435. On
Meir's place in the history of the fable, see J. Jacobs, The Fables of
Aesop, i. in, &c. (see Index s.v.). (I. A.)"\
MEIR OF ROTHENBURG (c. 1215-1293), German rabbi and
poet, was born in Worms c. 121 5. He played a great part in
organizing the Jewish communal life of the middle ages. In
1286 for some unknown reason he was thrown into prison in
Alsace, where he remained until his death in 1293. His friends
offered to find a ransom, but he declined the suggestion, fearing
that the precedent would lead to extortion in other cases.
He wrote glosses to the Talmud (tosaphot) and many Responsa
of the utmost value for historical research. Through his disciples
Asher ben Yehiel and Mordecai ben Hillel, Meir exercised much
8 4
MEIRINGEN— MEISSEN
influence on subsequent developments of Judaism. He was
also a liturgical poet of considerable merit. One of his finest
elegies is translated into English in Nina Davis's Songs of Exile.
See L. Ginzberg, Jewish Encyclopedia, viii. 437-440. (I. A.)
MEIRINGEN, the principal village on the Hasle (or the upper
Aar) valley in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is built at a height
of 1969 ft. on the right bank of the Aar and on the level floor of
the valley, but is much exposed to the south wind (or Fokn),
and has several times been in great part destroyed by fire (1632,
1879 and 1891). It has 3077 inhabitants, all German-speaking
and Protestants. The parish church is ancient, and above
it are the ruins of the medieval castle of Resti. Meiringen
is frequented by travellers in summer, as it is the meeting-point
of many routes: from Interlaken by the lake of Brienz and
Brienz, from Lucerne by the Briinig railway (28 m.), from
Engelberg by the Joch Pass (7267 ft.), from the upper Valais
by the Grimsel Pass (7100 ft.), and from Grindelwald by the
Great Scheidegg Pass (6434 ft.). Many waterfalls descend
the hill-sides, the best known being the Reichenbach and the
Alpbach, while the great gorge pierced by the Aar through
the limestone barrier of the Kirchet is remarkable. The village
and valley belonged of old to the emperor, who in 1234 gave
the advowson to the Knights of St Lazarus, by whom it was
sold in 1272 to the Austin Canons of Interlaken, on the sup-
pression of whom in 1528 it passed to the state. In 1310 the
emperor mortgaged the valley to the lords of Weissenburg,
who sold it in 1334 to the town of Bern. (W. A. B. C.)
MEISSEN, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Saxony,
on both banks of the Elbe, 15 m. N.W. from Dresden, on' the
railway to Leipzig via Dobeln. Pop. (1905), 32,336. The old
town lies on the left bank of the river, between the streams
Meisse and Triebisch, and its irregular hilly site and numerous
fine old buildings make it picturesque. Most of its streets
are narrow and uneven. The cathedral, one of the finest early
Gothic buildings in Germany, stands on the Schlossberg, 160 ft.
above the town. It is said to have been founded by the emperor
Otto the Great, but the present building was .begun in the 13th
century and was completed about 1450. Here are tombs of
several rulers and princes of Saxony, including those of Albert
and Ernest, the founders of the two existing branches of the
Saxon house. The cathedral also contains works by Peter
Vischer and Lucas Cranach and several other interesting monu-
ments. A restoration, including the rebuilding of the two
towers, was carried out in 1903-1908. Adjoining the cathedral
is the castle, dating from 1471-1483, but restored and named
the Albrechtsburg about 1676. Another restoration was
undertaken after i860, when a series of historical frescoes was
painted upon its walls. A stone building of the 13th century
connects the Schlossberg with the Afraberg, which owes its
name to the old convent of St Afra. The convent was suppressed
by Duke Maurice in 1543, and was by him converted into
a school (the Fursten Schule), one of the most renowned
classical schools in Germany, which counts Lessing and
Gellert among its former pupils. Other public buildings of
interest are the town-hall, built in 1479 and restored in
1875;- the fine town church, called the Frauenkirche or
Marienkirche; the Nikolaikirche and the Afrakirche. The
Franciscan church is now used as a museum of objects
connected with the history of Meissen. Since 17 10 Meissen
has been the seat of the manufacture of Dresden china. Till
i860 the royal porcelain factory was in the Albrechtsburg,
but in that year it was transferred to a large new building in
the Triebischtal, near the town. Meissen also contains iron
foundries, factories for making earthenware stoves and pottery*
sugar refineries, breweries and tanneries. A considerable trade
is carried on in the wine produced in the surrounding vineyards,
and other industries are spinning and weaving.
Meissen was founded about 920 by Henry the Fowler (see
Meissen, Margraviate). From 968 to 1581 Meissen was the
seat of a line of bishops, who ranked as princes of the empire.
During the 15th century the town suffered greatly from the
Hussites, and it was captured by the imperial troops during
the war of the league of Schmalkalden, and again in the Thirty
Years' Waf. In 1637 it suffered much from the Swedes, and
in 1745 it fell into the hands of the Prussians. The bridge over
the Elbe was destroyed by the French in 1813, and again by
the Saxons in June 1866 in order to impede the march of the
Prussians on Dresden. Colin on the right bank of the Elbe
was incorporated with Meissen in 190 1.
See Reinhard, Die Stadt Meissen, ihre Merkwurdigkeiten (Meissen,
1829); Loose, Alt-Meissen in Bildern (Meissen, 1889); Jaschke,
Meissen und seine Kirchen (Leipzig, 1902) ; and Gersdorf, Urkunden-
buch der Stadt Meissen (Leipzig, 1873).
MEISSEN, a German margraviate now merged in the kingdom
of Saxony. The mark of Meissen was originally a district
centring round the castle of Meissen or Misnia on the Middle
Elbe, which was built about 920 by the German king Henry I.,
the Fowler, as a defence against the Slavs. After the deatt
of Gero, margrave of the Saxon east mark, in 965, his territory
was divided into five marks, one of which was called Meissen.
In 985 the emperor Otto III. bestowed the office of margrave
upon Ekkard I., margrave of Merseburg, and the district com-
prising the marks of Meissen, Merseburg and Zeitz was generally
known as the mark of Meissen. In 1002 Ekkard was succeeded
by his brother Gunzelin, and then by his sons Hermann I. and
Ekkard II. Under these margraves the area of the mark
was further increased, but when Ekkard II. died in 1046 it
was divided, and Meissen proper was given successively to
William and Otto, counts of Weimar, and Egbert II., count of
Brunswick. Egbert was a rival of the emperor Henry IV.
and died under the imperial ban in 1089, when Meissen was
bestowed upon H enr y I-, count of Wettin, whose mother was
a sister of the margrave Ekkard II. Henry, who already ruled
lower Lusatia and the new and smaller Saxon east mark, was
succeeded in 1103 by his cousin Thimo, and in 1104 by his son
Henry II., whose claim on the mark was contested by Thimo's
son Conrad. When Henry died without issue in 11 23 Meissen
was given by the emperor Henry V. to Hermann II., count
of Wintzenburg; but, renewing his claim, Conrad won the
support of Lothair, duke of Saxony, afterwards the emperor
Lothair II., and obtained possession in 1130. Conrad, called
the Great, extended the boundaries of Meissen before abdicating
in 1156 in favour of his son Otto, known as the Rich. Otto
appointed his younger son Dietrich as his successor and was
attacked and taken prisoner by his elder son Albert ; but,
after obtaining his release by order of the emperor Frederick I.,
he had only just renewed the war when he died in n 90. During
his reign silver mines were opened in the Harz Mountains,
towns were founded, roads were made, and the general condition
of the country was improved. Otto was succeeded by his
son Albert, called the Proud, who was engaged in warfare
with his brother Dietrich until his death in 1195. As Albert
left no children, Meissen was seized by the emperor Henry VI.
as a vacant fief of the empire; but Dietrich, called the Oppressed,
secured the mark after Henry's death in 1197. Dietrich married
Jutta, daughter of Hermann I., landgrave of Thuringiaj and
was succeeded in 1221 by his infant son Henry, surnamed
the Illustrious; who on arriving at maturity obtained as
reward for supporting the emperor Frederick II. against the
pope a promise to succeed his uncle, Henry Raspe IV., as land-
grave of Thuringia. In 1243 Henry's son Albert was betrothed
to Margaret, daughter of Frederick II.; and Pleissnerland,
a district west of Meissen, was added to his possessions. Having,
gained Thuringia and the Saxon palatinate on his uncle's death
in 1247, he granted sections of his lands to his three sons in
1265, but retained Meissen. A series of family feuds followed
His second son Dietrich died in 1285, and on Henry's own
death in 1288 Meissen was divided between his two remaining
sons, Albert (called the Degenerate) and Frederick, and his
grandson Frederick Tutta, the son of Dietrich. Albert was
engaged in struggles with his three sons, who took him prisoner
in 1288; but he was released the following year by order of the
German king Rudolph I. About this time he sold his portion
of Meissen to his nephew Frederick Tutta, who held the title
MEISSONIER, J. L. E.
»5
of margrave and ruled the greater part of the mark until his
death in 1291. Albert's two remaining sons, Frederick and
Dietrich or Diezmann, then claimed Meissen; but it was seized
by King Adolph of Nassau as a vacant fief of the empire,
and was for some time retained by him and his successor King
Albert I. In the course of constant efforts to secure the mark
the brothers Frederick and Dietrich defeated the troops of
King Albert at Lucka in May 1307 and secured partial possession
of their lands. In this year Dietrich died and Frederick became
reconciled with his father, who, after renouncing his claim on
Meissen for a yearly payment, died in 1314. Having obtained
possession of the greater part of the mark, Frederick was invested
with it by the German king Henry VII. in 13 10. During these
years the part of Meissen around Dresden had been in the
possession of Frederick, youngest son of the margrave Henry the
Illustrious, and when he died in 13 16 it came <o his nephew
Frederick. About 13 12 Frederick, who had become involved
in a dispute with Waldemar, margrave of Brandenburg, over
the possession of lower Lusatia, was taken prisoner. Sur-
rendering lower Lusatia he was released, but it was only
after Waldemar's death in 13 19 that he obtained undisputed
possession of Meissen. Frederick, who was surnamed the
Peaceful, died in 1323 and was followed as margrave by his
son Frederick II., called the Grave, who added several counties
to his inheritance. From this latter Frederick's death in 1349
until 1 38 1 the lands of the family were ruled by his three sons
jointly; but after the death of his eldest son Frederick III.
in 1381 adivision was made by which Meissenfell to his youngest
son William I. In 1407 William was succeeded by his nephew
Frederick, called the Warlike, who in 1423 received from the
emperor Sigismund the electoral duchy of Saxe- Wittenberg.
The mark then became merged in the duchy of Saxony, and
at the partition of 1485 fell to the Albertine line. As Meissen
was relieved from the attacks of the Slavs by the movement
of the German boundary to the east, its prosperity increased.
Many towns were founded, among which were Dresden, Leipzig
and Freiburg; Chemnitz began its textile industry; and although
the condition of the peasants was wretched, that of the townsmen
was improving. The discoveries of silver brought great wealth
to the margraves, but they resorted at times to bedes, which
were contributions from the nobles and ecclesiastics who met
in a kind of diet. During this period the mark of Meissen
lay on both banks of the Elbe, and stretched from Bohemia
to the duchy of Saxe- Wittenberg, embracing an area of about
3000 sq. m.
See O. Posse, Die Markgrafen von Meissen und das Hans Wettin
(Leipzig, 188 1) ; F. W. Tittmann, Geschichte Ileinrichs des erlauchlen
Markgrafen zu Meissen (Dresden, 1845-1846); C. F. von Posern-
Klett, Zur Geschichte der Verfassung der Markgrafschaft Meissen im
ij. Jahrhundert (Leipzig, 1863). See also Urkunden der Markgrafen
von Meissen und Landgrafen von Thiiringen, edited by E. G. Gersdorf
(Leipzig, 1864); and H. B. Meyer, Hof- und Zentralverwaltung der
We.ttiner (Leipzig, 1902).
MEISSONIER, JEAN LOUIS ERNEST (1815-1891), French
painter, was born at Lyons on the 21st of February 1815. From
his schooldays he showed a taste for painting, to which some early
sketches, dated 1823, bear witness. After being placed with
a druggist, he obtained leave from his parents to become an
artist, and, owing to the recommendation of a painter named
Potier, himself a second class Prix de Rome, he was admitted
to Leon Cogniet's studio. He paid short visits to Rome and
to Switzerland, and exhibited in the Salon of 183 1 a picture
then called " Les Bourgeois Flamands " (" Dutch Burghers "),
but also known as " The Visit to the Burgomaster," subsequently
purchased by Sir Richard Wallace, in whose collection (at
Hertford House, London) it is, with fifteen other examples
of this painter. It was the first attempt in France in the
particular genre which was destined to make Meissonier famous:
microscopic painting — miniature in oils. Working hard for
daily bread at illustrations for the publishers — Curmer, Hetzel
and Dubocher — he also exhibited at the Salon of 1836 the
" Chess Player " and the " Errand Boy." After some not very
happy attempts at religious painting, he returned, under the
influence of Chenavard, to the class of work he was born to
excel in, and exhibited with much success the " Game of Chess "
(1841), the " Young Man playing the 'Cello " (1842), " The
Painter in his Studio " (1843), " The Guard Room," the " Young
Man looking at Drawings," the " Game of Piquet " (1845),
and the " Game of Bowls " — works which show the finish and
certainty of his technique, and assured his success. After
his " Soldiers " (1848) he began " A Day in June," which: was
never finished, and exhibited " A Smoker " (1849) and " Bravos"
(" Les Bravi," 1852). In 1855 he touched the highest mark
of his achievement with " The Gamblers " and " The Quarrel "
(" La Rixe"), which was presented by Napoleon III. to the
English Court. His triumph was sustained at the Salon of
1857, when he exhibited nine pictures, and drawings; among
them the " Young Man of the Time of the Regency," " The
Painter," "The Shoeing Smith," "The Musician," and "A
Reading at Diderot's." To the Salon of 1861 he sent " The
Emperor at Solferino," " A Shoeing Smith," " A Musician,"
" A Painter," and " M. Louis Fould "; to that of 1864 another
version of " The Emperor at Solferino," and " 1814." He
subsequently exhibited "A Gamblers' Quarrel " (1865), and
" Desaix and the Army of the Rhine " (1867). Meissonier
worked with elaborate care and a scrupulous observation of
nature. Some of his works, as for instance his " 1807," remained
ten years in course of execution. To the great Exhibition
of 1878 he contributed sixteen pictures: the portrait of
Alexandre Dumas which had been seen at the Salon of 1877,
" Cuirassiers of 1805," " A Venetian Painter," " Moreau and his
Staff before Hohenlinden," a " Portrait of a Lady," the " Road
to La Salice," " The Two Friends," " The Outpost of the Grand
Guard," " A Scout," and " Dictating his Memoirs." Thence-
forward he exhibited less in the Salons, and sent his work to
smaller exhibitions. Being chosen president of the Great
National Exhibition in 1883, he was represented there by such
works as " The Pioneer," " The Army of the Rhine," " The
Arrival of the Guests," and " Saint Mark." On the 24th of May
1884 an exhibition was opened at the Petit Gallery of Meissonier's
collected works, including 146 examples. As president of the
jury on painting at the Exhibition of 1889 he contributed some
new pictures. In the following year the New Salon was formed
(the National Society of Fine Arts), and Meissonier was-president.
He exhibited there in 1890 his picture " 1807 "; and in 1891,
shortly after his death, his" Barricade " was displayed there.
A less well-known class of work than his painting is a series
of etchings: " The Last Supper," " The Skill of Vuillaume
the Lute Player," " The Little Smoker," " The Old Smoker,"
the " Preparations for a Duel," " Anglers," " Troopers,"
" The Reporting Sergeant," and " Polichinelle," in the Hertford
House collection. He also tried lithography, but the prints
are now scarcely to be found. Of all the painters of the century,
Meissonier was one of the most fortunate in the matter of
payments. His " Cuirassiers," now in the late due d'Aumale's
collection at Chantilly, was bought from the artist for £10,000,
sold at Brussels for £11,000, and finally resold for £16,000.
Besides his genre portraits, he painted some others: those
of "Doctor Lefevre," of "Chenavard," of " Vanderbilt,"
of " Doctor Guyon," and of " Stanford." He also collaborated
with the painter Francais in a picture of " The Park at St Cloud."
In 1838 Meissonier married the sister of M. Steinheil, a painter.
Meissonier was attached by Napoleon III. to the imperial
staff, and accompanied him during the campaign in Italy and,
at the beginning of the war in 1870. During the siege of Paris *
in 1871 he was colonel of a marching regiment. In 1840 he
was awarded a third-class medal, a second-class medal in 1841,
first-class medals in 1843 and 1844 and medals of honour at
the great exhibitions. In 1846 he was appointed knight of
the Legion of Honour and promoted to the higher grades in
1856, 1867 (June 29), and 1880 (July 12), receiving the
Grand Cross in 1889 (Oct. 29). He nevertheless cherished
certain ambitions which remained unfulfilled. He hoped to
become a professor at the Ecole des Beaux Art= h"f the appoint-
ment he desired was never given to him. On various occasions.
86
MEISSONIER, j. A.— MEKONG
too, he aspired to be chosen deputy or made senator, but he
was not elected. In 1 86 1 he succeeded Abel de Pujol as member
of the Academy of Fine Arts. On the occasion of the centenary
festival in honour of Michelangelo in 1875 he was the delegate
of the Institute of France to Florence, and spoke as its represen-
tative. Meissonier was an admirable draughtsman upon wood,
his illustrations to Les Conies Remois (engraved by Lavoignat),
to Lamartine's Fall of an Angel, to Paul and Virginia, and to
The French Painted by Themselves being among the best known.
The leading engravers and etchers of France have been engaged
upon plates from the works of Meissonier, and many of these
plates command the highest esteem of collectors. Meissonier
died in Paris on the 21st of January 1801. His son, Jean
Charles Meissonier, also a painter, was his father's pupil, and
was admitted to the Legion of Honour in 1889.
See Alexandre, Histoire de la peinlure militaire en France (Paris,
1891); Laurens, Notice sur Meissonier (Paris, 1892); Greard, Meis-
sonier (Paris and London, 1897); T. G. Dumas, Maitres modernes
(Paris, 1884); Ch. Formentin, Meissonier, sa vie — son osuvre (Paris,
1901); J. W. Mollett, Illustrated Biographies of Modern Artists:-
Meissonier (London, 1882). (H. Fr.)
MEISSONIER, JUSTE AURELE (1695-1750), French gold-
smith, sculptor, painter, architect, and furniture designer,
was born at Turin, but became known as a worker in Paris,
where he died. His Italian origin and training were probably
responsible for the extravagance of his decorative style. He
shared, and perhaps distanced, the meretricious triumphs
of Oppenard and Germain, since he dealt with the Baroque
in its most daring and flamboyant developments. Rarely
does he leave a foot or two of undecorated space; the effect
of the whole is futile and fatiguing. It was because Meissonier
carried the style of his day to its extreme that he acquired
so vast a popularity. Like the English brothers Adam at
a later day he not only as architect built houses, but
as painter and decorator covered their internal walls; he
designed the furniture and the candlesticks, the silver and
the decanters for the table; he was as ready to produce a
snuff-box as a watch case or a sword hilt. Not only in
France, but for the nobility of Poland, Portugal and other
countries who took their fashions and their taste from Paris,
he made designs, which did nothing to improve European
taste. Yet his achievement was not wholly without merit.
His work in gold and silver-plate was often graceful and some-
times bold and original. He was least successful in furniture,
where his twirls and convolutions, his floral and rocaille motives
were conspicuously offensive. He was appointed by Louis XV.
Dessinateur de la chambre et du cabinet du roi; the post of
designer pour les pompes funebres et galantes was also held along
with that of Orfevre du roi.
For our knowledge of his work we are considerably indebted
to his own books of design: Livre . d' 'ornements en trente pieces;
Livre d 'orfevrerie d'iglise en six pieces, and Ornements de la carte
chronologique.
MEISTERSINGER (Ger. for " master-singer "), the name
given to the German lyric poets of the 14th, 15th and 16th
centuries, who carried on and developed the traditions of the
medieval Minnesingers (q.v.). These singers, who, for the most
part, belonged to the artisan and trading classes of the German
towns, regarded as their masters and the founders of their
gild twelve poets of the Middle High German period, among
whom were Wolfram von Eschenbach, Konrad von Wiirzburg,
Reinmar von Zweter and Frauenlob. The last mentioned
of these, Frauenlob, is said to have established the earliest
Meistersinger school at Mainz, early in the 14th century. This
is only a tradition, but the institution of such schools originated
undoubtedly in the upper Rhine district. In the 14th century
there were schools at Mainz, Strassburg, Frankfort, Wty-zburg,
Zurich and Prague; in the 15th at Augsburg and Nuremberg,
the last becoming in the following century, under Hans Sachs,
the most famous of all. By this time the Meistersinger schools
had spread all over south and central Germany; and isolated
gilds were to be found farther north, at Magdeburg, Breslau,
Gorlitz and Danzig.
Each gild numbered various classes of members, ranging
from beginners, or Schiller (corresponding to trade- apprentices),
and Schulfreunde (who were equivalent to Gesellen or journey-
men), to Meister, a Meister being a poet who was not merely
able to write new verses to existing melodies but had himself
invented a new melody. The poem was technically known as
a Bar or Gesetz, the melody as a Ton or Weis. The songs
were all sung in the schools without accompaniment. The
rules of the art were' set down in the so-called Tabulatur or
law-book of the gild. The meetings took place either in the
Rathaus, or town hall, or, when they were held^-as was usually
the case — on Sunday, in the church; and three times a year,
at Easter, Whitsuntide and Christmas, special festivals and
singing competitions were instituted. At such competitions
or Schulsingen judges were appointed, the so-called Merker,
whose duty it was to criticize the competitors and note their
offences against the rules of the Tabulatur.
The literary value of the Meistersinger poetry was hardly
in proportion to the large part it played in the life of the German
towns of the 15th and 16th centuries. As the medieval lyric
decayed, more and more attention was given to the externals
of poetic composition, the form, the number of syllables, the
melody; and it was such externals that attracted the interest
of these burgher-poets. Poetry was to them a mechanical
art that ' could be learned by diligent application, and the
prizes they had to bestow were the rewards of ingenuity, not
of genius or inspiration. Consequently we find an extraordinary
development of strophic forms corresponding to the many new
" tones " which every Meistersinger regarded it as his duty to
invent — tones which bore the most remarkable and often ridi-
culous names, such as Gestreijtsafranblumleinweis, Fettdachsweis,
Vielfrassweis, gebliimte Paradiesweis, &c. The verses were
adapted to the musical strophes by a merely mechanical
counting of syllables, regardless of rhythm or sense. The mean-
ing, the sentiment, the thought, were the last things to which
the Meistersingers gave heed. At the same time there was
a certain healthy aspect in the cultivation of the Meistergesang
among the German middle classes of the 15th and 16th centuries;
the Meistersinger poetry, if not great or even real poetry, had
— especially in the hands of a poet like Hans Sachs — many
germs of promise for the future. It reflected without exaggera-
tion or literary veneer the faith of the German burgher, his
blunt good sense and honesty of purpose. In this respect it
was an important factor in the rise of that middle-class literature
which found its most virile expression in the period of the
Reformation. The Meistergesang reached its highest point
in the 16th century; and it can hardly be said to have outlived
that epoch, although the traditions of the Meistersinger schools
lingered in south German towns even as late as the 19th century.
Specimens of Meistersinger poetry will be found in various
collections, such as J. J. Gorres, Altdeutsche Volks- und Meisterlieder
(1817); K. Bartsch, Meisterlieder der Kolmarer Handschrifl (Publ.
of the Stuttgart Literarischer Verein, vol. Ixviii. ; 1862). Of the older
sources of information about the Meistersinger the most important
are Adam Puschmann, Grundlicher Bericht des deutschen Meister-
gesangs zusamt der Tabulatur (1571 ; reprinted in W. Braune's
Neudruche deutscher Literaturwerke des 16. und 17. Jahrh., 73, 1888),
and J. C. Wagenseil, De civitate Noribergensi (1697). See further
J. Grimm, Uber den altdeutschen Meistergesang (181 1); F. Schnorr
von Carolsfeld, Zur Geschichte des deutschen Meister gesangs (1872);
R. von Liliencron, t)ber den Inhalt der allgemeinen Bildung in der
Zeit der Scholastik (1876); G. Jacobsthal, " Die musikalische Bildung
der Meistersinger " (Zeitschriftfur deut. Altertum, xx., 1876) ; O. Lyon,
Minne- und Meistergesang (1882) ; K. Mey, Der Meister gesang-ty
Geschichte und Kunst (1892). The art of the Meistersingers has been
immortalized by Richard Wagner in his music drama, Die Meister-
singer (1868). (J. G. R.)
MEKONG, or Me Nam Kong (pronounced Kawng), sometimes
known as the Cambodia River, the great river of Indo-China,
having its origin in the Tibetan highlands. It is the third or
fourth longest river in Asia and the seventh or eighth in the
world. It is about 2800 m. in length, of which 1 200 flow through
portions of the Chinese Empire and Tibet and 1600 through
French territory. Its sources are not definitely settled, but it
is supposed to rise on the slopes of Dza-Nag-Lung-Mung in about
MELA— MELAMPUS
87
33 N., 93 E., at an altitude of 16,700 ft. above sea-level.
Throughout the greater part of its course in Tibet, where it is
called the Dza-Chu, it flows south-eastwards to Chiamdo, on the
great east and west caravan route from China to Lhasa. At
this point it is about 10,000 ft. above sea-level. From here
it flows southwards through little-known mountain wastes.
Below Dayul in lat. 20° it is known by the Chinese name of
Lantsan Kiang. For the next 300 m. of its course the Lantsan
Kiang, or, as it soon becomes known among the Thai peoples
inhabiting its rugged valley, the Mekong, is very little known to
us. The river flows beneath bare and rocky walls. A few scat-
tered villages of Lusus and Mossos exist in this region; there is
no trade from north to south. In 25° 18' N. the Tali-Bhamo
caravan route, described by Colborne Baker, crosses the river
by one of those iron suspension bridges which are a feature of
Yun-nan, at a height of 4700 ft. above sea-level. From this
point to Chieng or Keng Hung, the head of the old confederacy
of the Sibsawng Punna or Twelve States, it is little known; the
fact that it falls some 900 ft. for each degree of latitude indi-
cates the character of the river. Under the provisions of the
Anglo-French agreement of January 1896, from the Chinese
frontier southwards to the mouth of the Nam Hok the Mekong
forms the frontier between the British Shan States on the west
and the territories acquired from Siam by France in 1893. By
the treaty of 1893, from that point southwards to about 13 30' N.
it is also the frontier between French Indo-China and Siam,
and a zone extended 25 kilometres inland from the right bank,
within which the Siamese government agreed not to construct
any fortified port or maintain any armed force. This 25 kilo-
metre neutral zone was abolished in 1905 when France surren-
dered Chantabun to the Siamese, who in their turn ceded the
port of Krat and the provinces of Melupre and Bassac, together
with various trading concessions to France on the right bank
of the Mekong. Below the Siamese Shan town of Chieng Sen
the river takes its first great easterly bend to Luang Prabang,
being joined by some important tributaries. This portion is
obstructed by rapids. The country is mountainous, and the
vegetation of the lower heights begins to assume a tropical
aspect. From Luang Prabang the river cuts its way southwards
for two degrees through a lonely jungle country among receding
hills of low elevation. From Chieng Khan the river again turns
eastwards along the 18th parallel, forcing its way through its
most serious rapid-barrier, and receiving some important tribu-
taries from the highlands of Tung Chieng Kum and Chieng
Kwang, the finest country in Indo-China. In 104° E. the river
resumes a southerly course through a country thinly peopled.
At Kemarat (16 N.) the fourth serious rapid-barrier occurs,
some 60 m. in length, and the last at Khong in 14 N. From
here to its outfall in the China Sea the river winds for some
400 m. through the French territories of Cambodia and Cochin
China, and to its annual overflow- these countries owe their
extraordinary fertility. The French have done much to render
the river navigable. Steamers ply regularly from Saigon through
Mytho to Pnompenh, and launches proceed from this place,
the capital of Cambodia, to the Preapatano rapids, and beyond
this a considerable portion of the distance to Luang Prabang, the
journey being finished in native boats. (J. G. Sc.)
MELA, POMPONIUS (ft. c. a.d. 43), the earliest Roman
geographer. His little work (De situ orbis libri III.) is a mere
compendium, occupying less than one hundred pages of ordinary
print, dry in style and deficient in method, but of pure Latinity,
and occasionally relieved by pleasing word-pictures. Except-
ing the geographical parts of Pliny's Historia naturalis (where
Mela is cited as an important authority) the De situ orbis is the
only formal treatise on the subject in classical Latin. Nothing
is known of the author except his name and birthplace — the
small town of Tingentera or Cingentera in southern Spain, on
Algeciras Bay (Mela ii. 6, § 96; but the text is here corrupt).
The date of his writing may be approximately fixed by his
allusion (iii. 6 § 49) to a proposed British expedition of the
reigning emperor, almost certainly that of Claudius in a.d. 43.
That this passage cannot refer to Julius Caesar is proved by
several references to events of Augustus's reign, especially to
certain new names given to Spanish towns. Mela has been
without probability identified by some with L. Annaeus Mela of
Corduba, son of Seneca the rhetorician, and brother of the great
Seneca.
The general views of the Be situ orbis mainly agree with those
current among Greek writers from Eratosthenes to Strabo; the
latter was probably unknown to Mela. But Pomponius is unique
among ancient geographers in that, after dividing the earth into
five zones, of which two only were habitable, he asserts the existence
of antickthones, inhabiting the southern temperate zone inaccessible
to the folk of the northern temperate regions from the unbearable
heat of the intervening torrid belt. On the divisions and bound-
aries of Europe, Asia and Africa, he repeats Eratosthenes; like all
classical geographers from Alexander the Great (except Ptolemy)
he regards the Caspian Sea as an inlet of the Northern Ocean,
corresponding to the Persian and Arabian (Red Sea) gulfs on the
south. His Indian conceptions are inferior to those of some earlier
Greek writers; he follows Eratosthenes in supposing that country
to occupy the south-eastern angle of Asia, whence the coast trended
northwards to Scythia, and then swept round westward to the
Caspian Sea. As usual, he places the Rhipaean Mountains and the
Hyperboreans near the Scythian Ocean. In western Europe his
knowledge (as was natural in a Spanish subject of Imperial Rome)
was somewhat in advance of the Greek geographers. He defines
the western coast-line of Spain and Gaul and its indentation by the
Bay of Biscay more accurately than Eratosthenes or Strabo, his
ideas of the British Isles and their position are also clearer than
his predecessors'. He is the first to name the Orcades or Orkneys,
which he defines and locates pretty correctly. Of northern Europe
his knowledge was imperfect, but he speaks vaguely of a great bay
(" Codanus sinus ") to the north of Germany, among whose many
islands was one, " Codanovia," of pre-eminent size; this name
reappears in Pliny as " Scandinavia." Mela's descriptive method
is peculiar and inconvenient. Instead of treating each continent
separately he begins at the Straits of Gibraltar, and describes the
countries adjoining the south coast of the Mediterranean; then he
moves round by Syria and Asia Minor to the Black Sea, and so
returns to Spain along the north shore of the Euxine, Propontis, &c.
After treating the Mediterranean islands, he next takes the ocean
littoral — to west, north, east and south successively — from Spain
and Gaul round to India, from India to Persia, Arabia and Ethiopia;
and so again works back to Spain round South Africa. Like most
classical geographers he conceives the Dark Continent as surrounded
by sea and not extending very far south.
The first edition of Mela was published at Milan in 1471 ; the first
good edition was by Vadianus (Basel, 1522), superseded by those
of Voss (1658), J. Gronovius (1685 and 1696), A. Gronovius (1722
and 1728), and Tzschucke (1806-1807), in seven parts (Leipzig;
the most elaborate of all); G. Parthey's (Berlin, 1867), gives the
best text. The English trans, by Arthur Golding (1585), is famous;
see also E. H. Bunbury, Ancient Geography, ii. 352-368, and
D. Detlefsen, Quellen und Forschungen zur alien Gesch. und Geog.
(1908). (E. H. B.;C. R. B.)
MELACONITE, a mineral consisting of cupric oxide, CuO,
and known also as black copper ore. In appearance it is
strikingly different from cuprite (q.v.) or red copper ore, which is
cuprous oxide. Crystals are rare; they belong to the mono-
clinic, or possibly to the anorthic system, and have the form of
thin triangular or hexagonal scales with a steel-grey colour and
brilliant metallic lustre. More often the mineral is massive,
earthy or pulverulent, and has a dull iron-black colour. Hence
the name melaconite, from the Greek ne\as, black and kovk,
dust, which was originally given by F. S. Beudant in 1832 in
the form melaconise. The crystallized Vesuvian mineral was
later named tenorite, a name commonly adopted for the species.
The hardness of the crystals is 3-4, but the earthy and powdery
forms readily soil the fingers; the spec. grav. is 5-9. Crystals
have been found only at Mt Vesuvius, where they encrust lava,
and in Cornwall. The other forms of the mineral, however,
are common in copper mines, and have resulted by the alteration"*
of chalcocite, chalcopyrite and other copper ores, on which
they often form a superficial coating. (L. J. S.)
MELAMPUS, in Greek legend, a celebrated seer and physician,
son of Amythaon and Eidomene, brother of Bias, mythical
eponymous hero of the family of the Melampodidae. Two
young serpents, whose life he had saved, licked his ears while he
slept, and from that time he understood the language of birds,
and beasts. In the art of divination he received instruction
from Apollo himself. To gain the consent of Neleus, king of
Pylos, to the marriage of his daughter Pero with Bias, Melampus
88
MELANCHLAENI— MELANGHTHON
undertook to obtain possession of the oxen of the Thessalian
prince Iphiclus. As Melampus had foretold, he was caught and
imprisoned, but was released by Phylacus (the father of Iphiclus)
on giving proof of his powers of divination, and was finally
presented with the oxen as a reward for having restored the
virility of the son. Melampus subsequently obtained a share in
the kingdom of Argos in return for having cured the daughters
of its king Proetus, who had been driven mad for offering resis-
tance to the worship of Dionysus or for stealing the gold from
the statue of Hera. At Aegosthena in Megara there was a
sanctuary of Melampus, and an annual festival was held in his
honour. According to Herodotus, he introduced the cult of
Dionysus into Greece from Egypt, and his name (" black foot ")
is probably " a symbolical expression of his character as a
Bacchic propitiatory priest and seer " (Preller). According to
the traditional explanation, he was so called from his foot
having been tanned by exposure to the sun when a boy. In his
character of physician, he was the reputed discoverer of the herb
melampodium, a kind of hellebore. Melampus and Bias are
symbolical representatives of cunning and force.
See Apollodorus i. 9, 11, 12; ii. 2, 2; Odyssey, xv. 225-240;
Diod. Sic. iv. 68; Herodotus ii. 49; ix. 34; Pausanias ii. 18, 4;
lv - 3 6 > 3; scholiast on Theocritus iii. 43; Ovid, Metam. xv. 325;
C. Eckermann, Melampus und sein Geschlecht (1840).
Melampus is also the name of the author of a short extant treatise
of little value on Divination by means of Palpitation (HaX/uSr)
and Birthmarks CEXatuv). It probably dates from the time of
Ptolemy Philadelphus (3rd cent. B.C.). Edition by J. G. Franz in
Scriptores physiognomiae veteres (1780).
MELANCHLAENI (from Gr. /^\as, and xXafra, "Black-
cloaks"), an ancient tribe to the north of Scythia, probably
about the modem Ryazan and Tambov (Herodotus iv. 106).
They have been identified with the Finnish tribes Merja
(now extinct) and Cheremis, now driven north-east on to the
middle Volga, These, till recently, wore black. There has
been confusion between this tribe and another of the same
name mentioned by Pliny (N. H. vi. 15), and Ptolemy in the
Caucasus. (E. H. M.)
MELANCHOLY (Gr. fiekayxoXia, from /teXas, black, and x°M,
bile), originally a condition of the mind or body due to a supposed
excess of black bile, also this black bile itself, one of the chief
" humours " of the body, which were, according to medieval
physiology, blood, phlegm, choler and melancholy (see Humour) ;
now a vague term for desponding grief. From the 17th century
the name was used of the mental disease now known as
" melancholia " (see Insanity), but without any reference to
the supposed cause of it.
MELANCHTHON, PHILIPP (1497-1550), German theologian
and reformer, was born at Bretten in Baden on the 16th of
February 1497. His father, George Schwartzerd, was an
armourer under the Palatinate princes. His mother, Barbara
Reuter, a niece of Johann Reuchlin, was shrewd, thrifty and
affectionate. 1 Her father, Johann Reuter, long burgomaster
of Bretten, supervised the education of Philipp, who was taught
first by Johannes Hungarus and then by Georg Simler at the
academy of Pfortzheim. Reuchlin took an interest in him,
and, following a contemporary custom, named him Melanchthon
(the Greek form of Schwartzerd, black earth). In October
1509 he went to Heidelberg, where he took the B.A. degree,
afterwards proceeding M.A. at Tubingen. The only other
academic distinction he accepted was the B.D. of Wittenberg
(1519). He would never consent to become a "doctor," be-
cause he thought the title carried with it responsibilities to which
he felt himself unequal. At Tubingen he lived as student and
teacher for six years, until on Reuchlin's advice, the elector of
Saxony called him to Wittenberg as professor of Greek in 1518.
1 Her character is evidenced by the familiar proverb —
Wer mehr will verzehren
Denn sein Pflug kann erehren,
Der muss zuletzt verderben
Und vielleicht am Galgen sterben —
of which Melanchthon said to his students " Didici hoc a mea
matre, vos etiam observate." (For Melanchthon's Latin version
of the saying see Corpus reformatorum, x. 469.)
This appointment marked an epoch in German university
education; Wittenberg became the school of the nation; the
scholastic methods of instruction were set aside, and in a Dis-
course on Reforming the Studies of Youth Melanchthon gave
proof, not only that he had caught the Renaissance spirit, but
that he was fitted to become one of its foremost leaders. He
began to lecture on Homer and the Epistle to Titus, and in con-
nexion with the former he announced that, like Solomon, he
sought Tyrian brass and gems for the adornment of God's Temple.
Luther received a fresh impulse towards the study of Greek,
and his translation of the Scriptures, begun as early as 1517,
now made rapid progress, Melanchthon helping to collate the
Greek versions and revising Luther's translation. Melanchthon
felt the spell of Luther's personality and spiritual depth, and
seems to have been prepared on his first arrival at Wittenberg
to accept the new theology, which as yet existed mainly in sub-
jective form in the person of Luther. To reduce it to an
objective system, to exhibit it dialectkally, the calmer mind of
Melanchthon was requisite.
Melanchthon was first drawn into the arena of the Reforma-
tion controversy through the Leipzig Disputation (June 27-July
8, 1519), at which he was present. He had been reproved by
Johann Eck for giving aid to Carlstadt (" Tace tu, Philippe, ac
tua studia cura nee me perturba"), and he was shortly after-
wards himself attacked by the great papal champion. Melanch-
thon replied in a brief and moderately worded treatise, setting
forth Luther's first principle of the supreme authority of Scrip-
ture in opposition to the patristic writings on which Eck relied.
His marriage in 1520 to Catharine Krapp of Wittenberg gave a
domestic centre to the Reformation. In 1521, during Luther's
confinement in the Wartburg, Melanchthon was leader of the
Reformation cause at the university. He defended the action
of Carlstadt, when he dispensed the Eucharist in an '■ evangelical
fashion." 2
With the arrival of the Anabaptist enthusiasts of Zwickau,
he had a more difficult task, and appears to have been irresolute;
Their attacks on infant baptism seemed to him not altogether
irrational, and in regard to their claim to personal inspiration
he said " Luther alone can decide; on the one hand let us beware
of quenching the Spirit of God, and on the other of being led
astray by the spirit of Satan." In the same year, 1521, he
published his Loci communes rerum theologicarum, the first
systematized presentation of the reformed theology. From
1522 to 1524 he was busy with the translation of the Bible and in
publishing commentaries. In 1524 he went for reasons of health
into southern Germany and was urged by the papal legate
Campegio to renounce the new doctrines. He refused, and
maintained his refusal by publishing his Summa doctrinae
Lutheri.
After the first Diet of Spires (1526), where a precarious peace
was patched up for the reformed faith, Melanchthon was deputed
as one of twenty-eight commissioners to visit the reformed states
and regulate the constitution of churches, he having just
published a famous treatise called the Libellus visitalorius, a
directory for the use of the commissioners. At the Marburg con-
ference (1529) between the German and Swiss reformers, Luther
was pitted against Oecolampadius and Melanchthon against
Zwingli in the discussion regarding the real presence in the sacra-
ment. How far the normally conciliatory spirit of Melanchthon
was here biased by Luther's intolerance is evident from the
exaggerated accounts of the conference written by the former
to the elector of Saxony. He was at this time even more embit-
tered than Luther against the Zwinglians. At the Diet of Augs-
burg (1530) Melanchthon was the leading representative of the
reformation, and it was he who prepared for that diet the seven-
teen articles of the Evangelical faith, which are known as the
"Augsburg Confession." He held conferences with Roman
divines appointed to adjust differences, and afterwards wrote
an Apology for the Augsburg Confession. After the 1 Augsburg
2 He read the usual service, but omitted everything that taught
a propitiatory sacrifice; he did not elevate the Host, and he gave
both the bread and the cup into the hands of every communicant.
MELANESIA
89
conference further attempts were made to settle the Reformation
controversy by a compromise, and Melanchthon, from his concili-
atory spirit and facility of access, appeared to the defenders of
the old faith the fittest of the reformers to deal with. His
historical instinct led him ever to revert to the original unity of
the church, and to regard subsequent errors as excrescences
rather than proofs of an essentially anti-Christian system. He
was weary of the rabies theoldgorum, and dreamed that the evan-
gelical leaven, if tolerated, would purify the church's life and
doctrine. In 1537, when the Protestant divines signed the
Lutheran Articles of Schmalkalden, Melanchthon appended to
his signature the reservation that he would admit of a pope
provided he allowed the gospel and did not claim to rule by
divine right.
The year after Luther's death, when the battle of Miihlberg
(1547) had given a seemingly crushing blow to the Protestant
cause, an attempt was made to weld together the evangelical
and the papal doctrines, which resulted in the compilation by
Pflug, Sidonius and Agricola of the Augsburg " Interim." This
was proposed to the two parties in Germany as a provisional
ground of agreement till the decision of the Council of Trent.
Melanchthon, on being referred to, declared that, though the
Interim was inadmissible, yet so far as matters of indifference
(adiaphora) were concerned it might be received. Hence arose
that " adiaphoristic " controversy in connexion with which he has
been misrepresented as holding among matters of indifference
such cardinal doctrines as justification by faith, the number of
the sacraments, as well as the dominion of the pope, feast-days,
and so on. The fact is that Melanchthon sought, not to minimize
differences, but to veil them under an intentional obscurity of
expression. Thus he allowed the necessity of good works to
salvation, but not in the old sense; proposed to allow. the seven
sacraments, but only as rites which had no inherent efficacy to
salvation, and so on. He afterwards retracted his compliance
with the adiaphora, and never really swerved from the views
set forth in the Loci communes; but he regarded the surrender
of more perfect for less perfect forms of truth or of expression as
a painful sacrifice rendered to the weakness of erring brethren.
Luther, though he had probably uttered in private certain
expressions of dissatisfaction with Melanchthon, maintained
unbroken friendship with him; but after Luther's death certain
smaller men formed a party emphasizing the extremest points
of his doctrine. 1 Hence the later years of Melanchthon were
occupied with controversies within the Evangelical church, and
fruitless conferences with his Romanist adversaries. He died
in his sixty-third year, on the 19th of April 1560, and his body
was laid beside that of Martin Luther in the Schlosskirche at
Wittenberg.
His ready pen, clear thought and elegant style, made him the
scribe of the Reformation, most public documents on that side
being drawn up by him. He never attained entire independence
of Luther, though he gradually modified some of his positions
from those of the pure Lutherism with which he set out. His
development is chiefly noteworthy in regard to these two leading
points — the relation of the evangelium or doctrine of free grace
(1) to free will and moral ability, and (2) to the law and poenitentia
or the good works connected with repentance. At first Luther's
cardinal doctrine of grace appeared to Melanchthon inconsistent
with any view of free will; and, following Luther, he renounced
Aristotle and philosophy in general, since " philosophers attribute
everything to human power, while the sacred writings represent
all moral power as lost by the fall." In the first edition of the
Loci (1521) he tfeld, to the length of fatalism, the Augustinian
doctrine of irresistible grace, working according to God's immutable
decrees, and denied freedom of will in matters civil and religious
alike. In the Augsburg Confession (1530), which was largely due
to him, freedom is claimed for the will in non-religious matters,
and in the Loci of 1533 he calls the denial of freedom Stoicism,
and holds that in justification there is a certain causality, though
not worthiness, in the recipient, subordinate to the Divine causality.
In 1535, combating Laurentius Valla, he did not deny the spiritual
incapacity of the will per se, but held that this is strengthened by
the word of God, to which it can cleave. The will co-operates
witn the word and the Holy Spirit. Finally, in 154.3, he says that
the ca use of the difference of final destiny among men lies in the
1 It must be admitted, however, that Matthias Flacius saved
the Reformation.
different .method of treating grace which is pdssible to believers as
to others. Man may pray for help and reject grace. This he calls
free will, as the power of laying hold of grace. Melanchthon's
doctrine of the three concurrent causes in conversion, viz. the
Holy Spirit, the word, and the human will, suggested the semi-
Pelagian position called Synergism, which was held by some of his
immediate followers.
. In regard to the relation of grace to repentance and good works,
Luther was disposed to make faith itself the principle of sanctifi-
cation. Melanchthon, however, for whom ethics possessed a special
interest, laid more stress on the law. He began to do this in 1527
in the Libettus visitatorius, which urges pastors to instruct their
people' in the necessity of repentance, and to bring the threatenings
of the law to bear upon men in order to faith. This brought down
upon him the opposition of the Antinomian Johannes Agricola.
In the Loci of 1535 Melanchthon sought to put the fact of the
co-existence of justification and good works in the believer on a
secure basis by declaring the latter necessary to eternal life, though
the believer's destiny thereto is already fully guaranteed in his
justification. In the Loci of 1543 he did not retain the doctrine
of the necessity of good works in order to salvation, and to this he
added, in the Leipzig Interim, " that this in no way countenances
the error that eternal life is merited by the worthiness of our own
works." Melanchthon was led to lay more and more stress upon
the law and moral ideas; but the basis of the relation of faith and
good works was never clearly brought out by him, and he at length
fell back on his original position, that we have justification and
inheritance of bliss in and by Christ alone, and that good works
are necessary by reason of immutable Divine command.-
Bibliography. — The principal works of Melanchthon, with the
bulk of his correspondence, are contained in the Corpus reforma-
torum (vols, i.-xxviii. ; Halle, 1834-1850), edited by Bretschneider
and Bindseil, to which must be added Bindseif's Supplementa
(Halle, 1874). Melanchthon's earliest and best biographer was
his friend Joachim Camerarius (1566), a new annotated edition of
which is much needed. The best modern life is that by Georg
Ellinger (Berlin, 1902) ; next is that of Karl Schmidt (Elberfeld,
1 861). The celebration in 1897 of the 400th anniversary of Melanch-
thon's birth produced many short biographies and Festreden, among
them works by J. W. Richard (New York and London, 1898);
George Wilson (London, 1897) ; Karl Sell (Halle, 1897) ; Ferdinand
Cohrs (Halle, 1897); Beyschlag and Harnack (1897). Richard
Rothe's Festrede (i860) also is good. The most learned of modern
Melanchthon scholars was probably Karl Hartfelder, who wrote
Philipp Melanchthon als Praeceptor Germaniae (Berlin, 1899);
Melanchthoniana paedagogica (Leipzig, 1892), giving in the first
named two full bibliographies, one of all works written on Melanch-
thon, the other of all works written by him (in chronological order).
Hartfelder believed that a good deal of unpublished material is
still left in German and foreign libraries. Thus three long unknown
letters are published in the Quellen und Forschungen of the Konigl.
Preuss. Inst. Hist, at Rome, vol. ii. Two are to the Cardinal of
Augsburg and one to Lazarus von Schwendi. Melanchthon was
on his way to the Council of Trent as delegate of the elector of
Saxony and the cardinal had offered to meet him at Dillingeri. He
writes " ingeminating peace," deploring that the council was not
a national synod, which would have been a better means of arriving
at the truth.
MELANESIA, one of the three great divisions of the oceanic
islands in the central and western Pacific. It embraces the
Bismarck Archipelago, N.E. of New Guinea, the Louisiade,
Solomon, Santa Cruz, New Hebrides and Loyalty islands, New
Caledonia, Fiji and intervening small groups. The name (Gr.
jueXas, black, and vrjaos, island) is derived from the black
colour of the prevailing native race, the Papuan and its allied
tribes. Many of these differ widely from the parent race, but
all the Melanesian peoples have certain common characteristics
which distinguish them sharply from the inhabitants of Poly*
nesia and Micronesia. Their civilization is lower. The Melan-
esians are mostly " negroid," nearly black, with crisp, curly hair
elaborately dressed; their women hold a much lower position
than among the Polynesians; their institutions, social, political
and religious, are simpler, their manners ruder; they have few
or, no traditions; cannibalism, in different degrees, is almost
universal; but their artistic skill and taste, as with some
of the lower African negroes, are remarkable, and they are
amenable to discipline and fair treatment. Their languages,
which exhibit considerable difference among themselves, have
features which mark them off clearly from the Polynesian,
notwithstanding certain, fundamental relations with the latter.
See R. H. Codrington, The Melanesian Languages (Oxford, 1885)
and The Melanesians (Oxford, 1891); the articles Papuans and
Pacific Ocean ; also those on the several island-groups, &c.
9°
MELANTHIUS— MELBOURNE
MELANTHIUS, a "noted Greek painter of the 4th century B.C.
He belonged to the school of Sicyon, which was noted for fine
drawing.
HELBA [Nellie Porter Armstrong] (1859- ), British
operatic soprano, ne'e Nellie Porter Mitchell, was born at Burnley,
near Melbourne, Australia, her father being a contractor, of
Scottish blood. She sang at a local concert when six years old,
and was given a good musical education. In 1882 she married
Captain Charles Armstrong, and in 1886 went to study singing
in Paris under the famous teacher, Madame Mathilde Marchesi,
whose daughter, Madame Blanche Marchesi, also a famous singer,
was associated with her. In 1887 she made her d6but in opera
at Brussels, taking the stage-name of Madame Melba from her
connexion with Melbourne. In the next year she sang the part
of Lucia, which remained one of her famous roles, at Covent
Garden, London; and, though critics complained of her cold-
ness as an actress, her liquid voice and brilliant execution hence-
forth made her famous as the greatest successor to Patti, in
pure vocalization, on the operatic stage. She maintained this
position for over twenty years, her triumphs being celebrated in
every country.
See the " authorized " biography by Agnes G. Murphy (1909).
MELBOURNE, WILLIAM LAMB, 2nd Viscount (1779-1848),
English statesman, second son of the 1st Viscount Melbourne,
by his marriage with the daughter of Sir Ralph Milbanke, bart.,
was born on the 15th of March 1779. His father, Peniston Lamb
(1748-1829), was the son of Sir Matthew Lamb, bart. (d. 1768),
who made a large fortune out of the law, and married Miss
Coke of Melbourne Hall; in 1770 he was made baron and in
1781 Viscount Melbourne in the Irish peerage, and in 1815 was
created an English peer. After completing his course at Trinity
College, Cambridge, William Lamb studied law at the university
of Glasgow, and was called to the bar in 1804. In 1805 he married
Lady Caroline Ponsonby (1785-1828), daughter of the 3rd earl
of Bessborough. She was, however, separated from him in
1825. Lady Caroline Lamb acquired some fame as a novelist
by her romance of Glenarvon, which was published anonymously
in 1816 and was afterwards (1865) re-issued under the title of
The Fatal Passion. On entering parliament in 1806 the Hon.
William Lamb (as Lord Melbourne then was) joined the opposi-
tion under Fox, of whom he was an ardent admirer; but his
Liberal tendencies were never decided, and he not infrequently
supported Lord Liverpool during that statesman's long tenure
of office. During the short ministry of Canning in 1827 he was
chief secretary for Ireland, but he afterwards for a time adhered
to the small remnant of the party who supported the duke of
Wellington. The influence of Melbourne as a politician dates
from his succeeding to the peerage in 1829. Disagreeing with
the duke of Wellington on the question of parliamentary reform,
he entered the ministry of Grey, as home secretary in 1830.
For the duties of this office at such a critical time he was deficient
in insight and energy, but his political success was independent
of his official capacity; and when the ministry of Grey was
wrecked on the Irish question in July 1834 Melbourne was
chosen to succeed him as prime minister. In November follow-
ing he had to give place to a Conservative ministry under Peel;
but he resumed office in April 1835, and remained prime minister
till 1841. He died at Melbourne House, Derbyshire, on the
24th of November 1848.
Lord Melbourne was without the qualification of attention to
details, and he never displayed those brilliant talents which
often form a substitute for more solid acquirements. Though
he possessed a fine and flexible voice, his manner as a speaker
was ineffective, and his speeches were generally ill-arranged and
destitute of oratorical point. His political advancement was
due to his personal popularity. He had a thorough knowledge of
the private and indirect motives which influence politicians,
and his genial attractive manner, easy temper and vivacious, if
occasionally coarse, wit helped to confer on him a social distinc-
tion which led many to take for granted his eminence as a
statesman. His favourite dictum in politics was, "Why not
leave it alone?" His relations with women gave opportunity
for criticism though not open scandal; but the action brought
against him in 1836 by Mr George Chappie Norton in regard to
the famous Mrs Caroline Norton (q.v.) was deservedly unsuccess-
ful. The most notable and estimable feature of his political
conduct was his relation to Queen Victoria (q.v.), whom he initi-
ated into the duties of sovereign with the most delicate tact and
the most paternal and conscientious care.
Melbourne was succeeded as 3rd viscount by his brother,
Frederick James Lamb (1782-1853), who was British ambas-
sador to Vienna from 1831 to 1841. On the 3rd viscount's dea'th
the titles became extinct, but the estates passed to his sister
Emily Mary (1787-1869), the wife of Lord Palmerston.
See W. McC. Torrens, Memoirs of Lord Melbourne (1878);
Lloyd Sanders, Lord Melbourne's Papers (1889); A. Hayward's
essay (from the Quarterly Review, 1878) in " Eminent Statesmen "
(1880).
MELBOURNE, the capital of Victoria, and the most populous
city in Australia. It is situated on Hobson's Bay, a northern
bend of the great harbour of Port Phillip, in Bourke county,
about 500 m. S.W. of Sydney. The suburbs extend along the
shores of the bay for more than 10 m., but the part distinct-
ively known as the " city " occupies a site about 3 m. inland
on the north bank of the Yarra river. The appearance of
Melbourne from the sea is by no means picturesque. The busy
shipping suburbs of Port Melbourne and Williamstown occupy
the flat alluvial land at the mouth of the Yarra. But the city
itself has a different aspect; its situation is relieved by numerous
gentle hills, which show up its fine public buildings to great
advantage; its main streets are wide and well kept, and it has an
air of prosperity, activity and comfort. The part especially
known as the " city " occupies two hills, and along the valley
between them runs the thoroughfare of Elizabeth Street. Parallel
to this is Swanston Street, and at right angles to these,
parallel to the river, are Bourke Street, Collins Street sad
Flinders Street — the first being the busiest in Melbourne, the
second the most fashionable with the best shops, and the third,
which faces the river, given up to the maritime trade. These
streets are an eighth of a mile apart, and between each is a
narrower street bearing the name of the wider, with the prefix
" Little." The original plan seems to have been to construct
these narrow streets to give access to the great business houses
which, it was foreseen, would be built on the frontage of the main
streets. This plan, however, miscarried, for space grew so
valuable that large warehouses and business establishments
have been erected in these lanes. Little Flinders Street, in
which the great importers' warehouses are mainly situated, is
locally known as " the Lane." In the centre of the city some oi
the office buildings are ten, twelve or even fourteen storeys
high. The main streets are 99 ft. wide, and the lanes somewhat
less than half that width. Round the city lies a circle of popu-
lous suburbs — to the north-east Fitzroy (pop. 31,687) and
Collingwood (32,749), to the east Richmond (37,824), to the
south-east Prahran (40,441), to the south South Melbourne
(40,619), to the south-west Port Melbourne (12,176), and to the
north-west North Melbourne (18,120). All these suburbs he
within 3 m. of the general post office in Elizabeth Street; but
outside them and within the 5 m. radius is another circle — tc
the east Kew (9469) and Hawthorne (21,430), to the south-east
St Kilda (20,542) and Brighton (10,047), to the south-west
Williamstown (14,052) and Footscray (i8,3i8),*to the north-west
Essenden (17,426), and Flemington and Kensington (10,94$),
and to the north Brunswick (24,141). Numerous small suburbs
fill the space between the two circles, the chief being Northcote,
Preston', Camberwell, Toorak, Caulfield, Elsternwick and Coburg.
Some of these suburbs are independent cities, others separate
municipalities. In spite of the value of land, Melbourne is not
a crowded city.
The Parliament House, standing on the crown of the eastern
hill, is a massive square brick building with a pillared freestone
facade approached by a broad flight of steps. The interior is
lavishly decorated and contains, besides the legislative chambers,
a magnificent library of over 52,000 volumes. At the top of
BRAY
BRQ@
MELBOURNE
and Environs.
Natural Scale. 1*70.000
English Miles
? % % % ;
Reference.
L Parliament House* 10. Victoria Markets
X Treasury Buildings 11. Princess Theatre
3. Law Courts 12. Theatre Royal
4. Hint 13. St. Patrick's Cathedral
5. Town Hall It. Independent Congl. Ch
S. General Post Office 15. Scots Church
7. Custom House IS. Anglican Cathedral
S. fret />i/»/ic Library 17. Melbourne Hospital
and Art Gallery IS. >»//r«-> Hospital
•. Trades Hall 19. Homoeopathic Hospital
MELBOURNE
91
Collins Street a building in brown freestone is occupied by the
Treasury, behind which and fronting the Treasury Park another
palatial building houses the government offices. A little further
on is St Patrick's Roman Catholic cathedral, the seat of the
archbishop of Melbourne, a building of somewhat sombre blue-
stone. Two striking churches face each other in Collins Street,
the Scots church, a Gothic edifice with a lofty spire, and the
Independent church, a fine Saracenic building with a massive
campanile. The seat of the Anglican bishop, St Paul's cathe-
dral, has an elegant exterior and a wealth of elaborate workman-
ship within, but stands low and is obscured by surrounding
warehouses. On the western hill are the law courts, a fine block
of buildings in classic style surmounted by a central dome. In
Swanston Street there is a large building where under one roof
are found the public library of over 100,000 volumes, the museum
of sculpture, the art gallery, and the museums of ethnology and
technology. In connexion with the art gallery there is a travel-
ling scholarship for art students, endowed by the state. The
Exhibition Buildings are situated on a hill in Carlton Gardens;
they consist of a large cruciform hall surmounted by a dome and
flanked by two annexes. Here on the 9th of May 1901 the first
federal parliament of the Australian commonwealth was opened
by King George V. (as duke of Cornwall and York). The
Trades Hall at Carlton is the meeting-place of the trades-union
societies of Victoria, and is the focus of much political influence.
The Melbourne town hall contains a central chamber capable of
accommodating 3000 people. The suburban cities and towns
have each a town hall. The residence of the governor of the
colony is in South Melbourne, and is surrounded by an extensive
domain. The university is a picturesque mass of buildings in
large grounds about a mile from the heart of the city. It com-
prises the university buildings proper, the medical school, the
natural history museum, the Wilson Hall, a magnificent building
in the Perpendicular style, and the three affiliated colleges,
Trinity College (Anglican), Ormond College (Presbyterian) and
Queen's College ( Wesleyan) . The university, established in 1 8 5 5 ,
is undenominational, and grants degrees in the faculties of arts,
law, medicine, science, civil engineering and music; instruction in
theology is left to the affiliated colleges. Melbourne has numer-
ous state schools, and ample provision is made for secondary
education by the various denominations and by private enter-
prise. Of theatres, the Princess and the Theatre Royal are the
most important. Other public buildings include the mint,
the observatory, the Victoria markets, the Melbourne hospital,
the general post office, the homoeopathic hospital, the custom
house and the Alfred hospital. Many of the commercial
buildings are of architectural merit, notably the banks, of which
the bank of Australasia, a massive edifice of the Doric order,
and the Gothic Australian bank are the finest examples.
The public gardens and parks of Melbourne are extensive.
Within the city proper the Fitzroy Gardens are a network
of avenues bordered with oak, elm and plane, with a " fern-
tree gully " in the centre; they are ornamented with casts of
famous statues, and ponds, fountains and classic temples. The
Treasury, Flagstaff and Carlton Gardens are of the same class.
Around the city lie five great parks — Royal Park, in which are
excellent zoological gardens; Yarra Park, which contains the
leading cricket grounds; the Botanical Gardens, sloping down to
the banks of the river; Albert Park, in which is situated a lake
much used for boating; and Studley Park on the Yarra river,
a favourite resort which has been left in a natural state. Besides
these parks, each suburb has its public gardens, and at Fleming-
ton there is a fine race-course, on which the Melbourne cup races
are run every November, an event which brings in a large influx
of visitors from all parts of Australia. Melbourne has a complete
tramway system; all the chief suburbs are connected with the
city by cable trams. The tramways are controlled by a trust,
representing twelve of the metropolitan municipalities. The
chief monuments and statues of the city are the statue of Queen
Victoria in the vestibule of the Houses of Parliament, and a
colossal group commemorating the explorers Robert O'Hara
Bourke (b. 1820) and William John Wills (b. 1834), who died of
starvation in 1861 on an expedition for the crossing of Australia
from south to north. There are also the statue to Sir Redmond
Barry, first chancellor of the university, outside the public
library, the Gordon statue in Spring Street, a replica of that in
Trafalgar Square, London, and a statue of Daniel O'Connell,
outside St Patrick's cathedral.
Port Melbourne, originally called Sandridge, is about 2^ m.
distant from the city, with which it is connected by rail and
tramway. It has two large piers, alongside of which vessels of
almost any tonnage can lie. One of these piers is served by the
railway, and here most of the great liners are berthed. Vessels
drawing 22 ft. of water can ascend the river Yarra to the heart
of the city. There are 2 m. of wharves along each bank of
the river, with two large dry-docks and ship-repairing yards and
foundries. Below Queen's Bridge is an expansion of the river
known as the Pool, in which the largest ships using the river
can turn with ease. Leading from a point opposite the docks is
the Coode canal, by means of which the journey from the city
to the mouth of the river is shortened by over a mile. As a
port Melbourne takes the first place in Australia as regards
tonnage. It is also a great manufacturing centre, and both
city and suburbs have their distinctive industries. The chief
are tanning, fellmongery, wool-washing, bacon-curing, flour
milling, brewing, iron-founding, brick-making, soap-boiling, the
manufacture of pottery, candles, cheese, cigars, snuff, jams,
biscuits, jewelry, furniture, boots, clothing and leather and
woollen goods.
The climate of Melbourne is exceptionally fine; occasionally
hot winds blow from the north for two or three days at a time,
but the proportion of days when the sky is clear and the air dry
and mild is large. Snow is unknown, and the average annual
rainfall is 25-58 in. The mean annual temperature is
57-3° F., corresponding to that of Washington in the United
States, and to Lisbon and Messina in Europe. . The city is
supplied with water from the Yan Yean works, an artificial
lake at the foot of the Plenty Range, nearly 19 m. distant.
The little settlement of the year 1835, out of which Melbourne
grew, at first bore the native name of Dootigala, but it was
presently renamed after Viscount Melbourne, premier of Great
Britain at the time of its foundation. In June 1836 it consisted
of only thirteen buildings, eight of which were turf huts. For
two years after that date a constant stream of squatters with their
sheep flowed in from around Sydney and Tasmania to settle in
the Port Phillip district, and by 1841 the population of the town
had grown to 11,000. The discovery of gold at Ballarat in 1851
brought another influx of population to the district, and the
town grew from 30,000 to 100,000 in the course of two or three
years. In 1842 Melbourne was incorporated and first sent
members to the New South Wales parliament. A strong
popular agitation caused the Port Phillip district to be separated
from New South Wales in 1851, and a new colony was formed
with the name of Victoria, Melbourne becoming its capital. In
1901 Melbourne became the temporary capital of the Australian
commonwealth pending the selection of the permanent capital
in New South Wales. The population of the city proper in
1901 was 68,374, and that of " greater Melbourne " was 496,079.
MELBOURNE, a market town in the southern parliamentary
division of Derbyshire, England, 8 m. S.S.E. of Derby, on the
Midland railway. Pop. (1901), 3580. It lies in an undulating
district on a small southern tributary of the Trent, from which
it is about 2 m. distant. The church of St Michael is a fine
example of Norman work, with certain late details, having
clerestoried nave, chancel and aisles, with central and two
western towers. Melbourne Hall, a building of the time of
William III., surrounded by formal Dutch gardens, stands in
a domain owned at an early date by the bishops of Carlisle,
whose tithe barn remains near the church. They obtained the
manor in 1133. In 1311 Robert de Holland fortified a mansion
here, and in 1327 this castle belonged to Henry, earl of Lancaster;
but it was dismantled in 1460, and little more than the site is
now traceable. The title of Viscount Melbourne was taken from
this town. There are manufactures of silk, and boots and shoes.
9 2
MELCHERS— MELEAGER
MELCHERS, (JULIUS) GARI (i860- ), American artist,
was born at Detroit, Michigan, on the nth of August i860.
The son of a sculptor, at seventeen he was sent to Diisseldorf to
study art under von Gebhardt, and after three years went to
Paris, where he worked at the Acad6mie Jiilien and the Ecole
des Beaux Arts. Attracted by the pictorial side of Holland, he
settled at Egmond. His first important Dutch picture, " The
Sermon," brought him honourable mention at the Paris Salon
of 1886. He became a member of the National Academy of
Design, New York; the Royal Academy of Berlin; Societe
Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris; International Society of
Painters, Sculptors and Engravers, London, and the Secession
Society, Munich; and, besides receiving a number of medals, his
decorations include the Legion of Honour, France; the order
of the Red Eagle, Germany; and knight of the Order of St
Michael, Bavaria. Besides portraits, his chief works are:
" The Supper at Emmaus," in the Krupp collection at Essen;
" The Family," National Gallery, Berlin; " Mother and Child,"
Luxembourg; and the decoration, at the Congressional Library,
Washington, " Peace and War."
MELCHIADES, or Miltiades (other forms of the name being
Meltiades, Melciades, Milciades and Miltides), pope from the
2nd of July 310, to the nth January 314. He appears to
have been an African by birth, but of his personal history
nothing is known. The toleration edicts of Galerius and of
Constantine and Licinius were published during his pontificate,
which was also marked by the holding of the Lateran synod in
Rome (313) at which Caecilianus, bishop of Carthage, was
acquitted of the charges brought against him and Donatus
condemned. Melchiades was preceded and followed by
Eusebius and Silvester I. respectively.
MELCHITES (lit. Royalists, from Syriac melcha, a king),
the name given in the 5th century to those Christians who
adhered to the creed supported by the authority of the Byzantine
emperor. The Melchites therefore are those who accept the
decrees of Ephesus and Chalcedon as distinguished from the
Nestorians and Jacobite Church (qq.v.). They follow the
Orthodox Eastern liturgy, ceremonial and calendar, but acknow-
ledge the papal and doctrinal authority of Rome. They number
about 80,000, are found in Syria, Palestine and Egypt, and are
under the immediate rule of the patriarch of Damascus and
twelve bishops.
MELCHIZEDEK (Heb. for "king of righteousness"; or,
since Sedek is probably the name of a god, " Sedek is my king"), 1
king of Salem and priest of " supreme El " (El x elyon), in the
Bible. He brought forth bread and wine to Abraham on his
return from the expedition against Chedorlaomer, and blessed
him in the name of the supreme God, possessor (or maker) of
heaven and earth; and Abraham gave him tithes of all his booty
(Gen. xiv. 18-20). Biblical tradition tells us nothing more
about Melchizedek (cf. Heb. vii. 3); but the majestic figure of
the king-priest, prior to the priesthood of the law, to whom
even the father of all Israel paid tithes (cf. Jacob at Bethel, Gen.
xxviii. 22), suggested a figurative or typical application, first in
Psalm ex. to the vicegerent of Yahweh, seated on the throne of
Zion, the king of Israel who is also priest after the order of
Melchizedek, and then, after the Gospel had ensured the
Messianic interpretation of the Psalm (Matt. xxii. 42 seq.), to
the kingly priesthood of Jesus, as that idea is worked out at
length in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
The theological interest which attaches to the idea of the pre-
Aaronic king-priest in these typical applications is practically
independent of the historical questions suggested by the narrative
of Gen. xiv. The episode of Melchizedek, though connected with
the main narrative by the epithets given to Yahweh in Gen. xiv. 22,
breaks the natural connexion of verses 17 and 21, and may perhaps
have come originally from a separate source. As the narrative
now stands Salem must be sought in the vicinity of " the kingls
dale," which from 2 Sam. xviii. 18, probably, but not necessarily,
lay near Jerusalem. That Salem is Jerusalem, as in Psalm lxxvi. 2,
1 It is to be noted also that the name is of the same form as
Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem (Josh. x. 1), and that the un-
Hebraic Araunah of 2 Sam. xxiv. 16 is probably a corruption
of the similar compound Adonijah (so Cheyne, Ency. Bib. col. 290).
is the ancient and common view; but even in the 15th century B.C.
Jerusalem was known as Uru-salim. Jerome and others have
identified Salim with one or other of the various places which bear
that name, e.g. the XaXeln of John iii. 23, 8 m. south of Beth-
shean. In a genuine record of extreme antiquity the union of
king and priest in one person, the worship of El as the supreme
deity by a Canaanite, 2 and the widespread practice of the consecra-
tion of a tithe of booty can present no difficulty ; but, if the historical
character of the narrative is denied, the date of the conception
must be placed as late as the rise of the temporal authority of the
high priests after the exile. So far no evidence has been found in
the cuneiform inscriptions or elsewhere in support either of the
genuineness of the episode in its present form, or of the antiquity
which is attributed to it (see further, J. Skinner, Genesis, pp. 269 sqq.).
An ancient legend identifies Melchizedek with Shem (Palestinian
Targum, Jerome on Isa. xli., Ephraem Syrus in loco).
See further the literature on Gen. xiv., and the articles Abraham,
Genesis. (W. R. S. ; S. A. C.)
MELCOMBE, GEORGE BUBB DODDINGTON, Baron (1601-
1762), English politician. His father's name was Bubb, but
the son took the name of Doddington on inheriting a large
property by the death of an uncle of that name (1720). He
was educated at Oxford. In 171 5 he was returned to parliament
as member for Winchelsea, and was sent as envoy extraordinary
to Spain. He carried on a scandalous traffic in the five or six
parliamentary votes which he controlled, his tergiversation
and venality furnishing food for the political satirists and
caricaturists of the day. His most estimable political action
was his defence of Admiral Byng in the House of Commons
(1757). From 1722 to 1754 he sat in parliament for Bridge-
water; from 1724 to 1740 was a lord of the treasury; and, in
1744, became treasurer of the navy under Henry Pelham, and,
again in 1755, under Newcastle and Fox. In April 176 1 he was
raised to the peerage as Baron Melcombe of Melcombe Regis in'
Dorsetshire. He died at La Trappe, his Hammersmith house,
on the 28th of July 1762. His wife, acknowledged only after
the death of another lady to whom he had given a bond that he
would marry no one else, died without issue. He was a wit and
a friend of wits, a good scholar, and something of a Maecenas;
Thomson's " Summer " was dedicated to him, Fielding addressed
to him an epistle and Edward Young a satire. He was a leading
spirit of the " Hell-fire " Club, whose members, called " Fran-
ciscans," from their founder Sir Francis Dashwood (d. 1781),
held their revels in the ruined Cistercian abbey of Medmenham,
Bucks.
His diary, published in 1784, reveals him in. his character of
place-hunter and throws a curious light on the political methods
of the time.
MELEAGER (Gk. Mekkaypos), in Greek legend, the son of
Oeneus, king of Calydon, and Althaea. His father having
neglected to sacrifice to Artemis, she sent a wild boar to ravage
the land, which was eventually slain by Meleager. A war broke
out between the Calydonians and Curetes (led by Althaea's
brothers) about the disposal of the head and skin, which Meleager
awarded as a prize to Atalanta, who had inflicted the first
wound; the brothers of Althaea lay in wait for Atalanta and
robbed her of the spoils, but were slain by Meleager. When
Althaea heard this, she cursed Meleager, who withdrew, and
refused to fight until the Curetes were on the point of capturing
the city of Calydon. Then, yielding to his wife's entreaties,
he sallied forth and defeated the enemy, but was never seen
again, having been carried off by the Erinyes, who had heard his
mother's curse (or he was slain by Apollo in battle). According
to a later tradition, not known to Homer, the Moerae appeared
to Althaea when Meleager was seven days old, and announced"*-
that the child would only live as long as the log blazing on the
hearth remained unconsumed. Althaea thereupon seized the
log, extinguished the flames, and hid it in a box. But, after her
brothers' death, she relighted the log, and let it burn away until
Meleager died. 3 Then, horrified at what she had done, she
hanged herself, or died of grief. The sisters of Meleager were
2 The god 'TSXiovv was also Phoenician ; see Driver, Genesis,
p. 165; Lagrange, Religions Simitiques, Index, s.v.
3 On the torch as representing the light of life, see E. Kuhnert
in Rheinisches Museum, xlix., 1894, and J. Grimm, Teutonic Mytho-
logy (Eng. trans, by J. Stallybrass, 1880), ii. 853.
MELEDAI-MELETIUS OB ANTIOCH
93
changed by Artemis out of compassion into guinea fowls and
removed to the island of Leros, where they mourned part of the
year for their brother. The life and adventures of Meleager
were a favourite subject in ancient literature and art. Meleager
is represented as a tall, vigorous youth with curly haif , holding
a javelin or a boar's head, and accompanied by a dog.
See R. Kekul6, De fabula meleagrea dissertatio (1861) ; Surber,
Die Meleagersage (Zurich, 1880); articles on "Meleager" and
" Meleagrides " in Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie; L. Preller,
Griechische Mylhologie; Apollodorus i. 8; Homer, Iliad, ix. 527;
Diod. Sic. iv. 34; Dio Chrysostom, Or. 67; Hyginus, Fab. 171;
Ovid, Metam. viii. 260-545. In the article Greek Art (fig. 41)
the hunting of the Calydonian boar is represented on a fragment
of a frieze from a heroum,
HELEDA (Serbo-Croatian, Mljet; Lat. Melita), the most
southerly and easterly of the larger Adriatic islands of the
Austrian province of Dalmatia. Pop. (1900), 1617; Meleda
lies south of the Sabioncello promontory, from which it is divided
by the Meleda Channel. Its length is 23 m.; its average breadth
2 m. It is of volcanic origin, with numerous chasms and gorges,
of which the longest, the Babinopolje, connects the north and
south of the island. Port Palazzo, the principal harbour, on
the north, is a port of call for tourist steamers. Meleda has
been regarded as the Melita on which St Paul was shipwrecked,
this view being first expounded, in the 10th century, by Con-
stantine Porphyrogenitus. As at Malta, a " St Paul's Bay " is
still shown.
MELEGNANO (formerly Marignano), a town of Lombardy,
Italy, in the province of Milan, n m. S.E. of that city by the
railway to Piacenza, 289 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901), 6782.
There are remains of a castle of the Visconti. Its military
importance is due to its position at the crossing of, the river
Lambro. It was a stronghold of Milan in her great struggle
against Lodi, and is famous for the victory of Francis 1. of
France over the Swiss in 1515, known as the battle of Marignan,
and for the action between the French and Austrians in 1859.
MELENDEZ VALDES, JUAN (1754-1817), Spanish poet, was
born at Ribera del Fresno, Badajoz, on the nth of March 1754.
Destined by his parents for the priesthood, he graduated in
law at Salamanca, where he became indoctrinated with the
ideas of the French philosophical school. In 1780 with Batilo,
a pastoral in the manner of Garcilaso de la Vega, he won a
prize offered by the Spanish academy, next year he was intro-
duced to Jovellanos, through whose influence he was appointed
to a professorship at Salamanca in 1783. The pastoral scenes
in Las Bodas de Camacho (1784) do not compensate for its
undramatic nature, but it gained a prize from the municipality
of Madrid. A volume of verses, lyrical and pastoral, published
in 1785, caused Melendez Valdes to be hailed as the first Spanish
poet of his time. This success induced him to resign his chair
at Salamanca, and try his fortune in politics. Once more the
friendship of Jovellanos obtained for him in 1789 a judgeship
at Saragossa, whence he was transferred two years later to a
post in the chancery court at Valladolid. In 1797 he dedicated
to Godoy an enlarged edition of his poems, the new matter
consisting principally of unsuccessful imitations of Milton and
Thomson; but the poet was rewarded by promotion to a high
post in the treasury at Madrid. On the fall of Jovellanos in
1798 Melendez Valdes was dismissed and exiled from the capital;
he returned in 1808 and accepted office under Joseph Bonaparte.
He had previously denounced the French usurper in his verses.
He now outraged the feelings of his countrymen by the grossest
flattery of his foreign master, and in 1813 he fled to Alais. Four
years later he died in poverty at Montpellier. His remains
were removed to Spain in 1900. In natural talent and in
acquired accomplishment Melendez Valdes was not surpassed by
any contemporary Spaniard; he failed from want of character,
and his profound insincerity affects his poems. Yet he has fine
moments in various veins, and his imitation of Jean Second's
Basia is notable.
MELETIUS OF ANTIOCH (d. 381), Catholic bishop and saint,
was born at Melitene in Lesser Armenia of wealthy and noble
parents. He first appears (c. 357) a? a supporter of Acacius,
bishop ttf Caesarea, the leader of that party in the episcopate
which supported the Homoean formula by which the emperor
Constantius sought to effect a compromise between the Homoe-
usians and the Homousians. Meletius thus makes his debut as
an ecclesiastic of the court party, and as such became bishop
of Sebaste in succession to Eustathius, deposed as an Homousian
heretic by the synod of Melitene. The appointment was
resented by the Hombeusian clergy, and Meletius retired to
Berpea- According to Socrates he attended the synod of
Seleucia in the autumn of 359, and then subscribed the
Acacian formula. Early in 360 he became bishop of Antioch,
in succession to Eudoxius, who had been raised to the see of
Constantinople. Early in the following year he was in exile.
According to an old tradition, supported by evidence drawn
from Epiphanius and Chrysostom, this was due to a sermon
preached before the emperor Constantius, in which he revealed
Homousian views. This explanation, however, is rejected by
Loofs; the sermon contains nothing inconsistent with the
Acacian position favoured by the court party; on the other
hand, there is evidence of conflicts with the clergy, quite apart
from any questions of orthodoxy, which may have led to the
bishop's deposition.
The successor of Meletius was Euzoeus, who had fallen with
Arius under the ban of Athanasius; and Loofs explains the
subita fidei mutafio which St Jerome (ann. Abr. 2376) ascribes
to Meletius to the dogmatic opposition of the deposed bishop
to his successor. In Antioch itself Meletius continued to have
adherents, who held separate services in the " Apostolic "
church in the old town. The Meletian schism was complicated,
moreover, by the presence in the city of another anti-Arian sect,
stricter adherents of the Homousian formula, maintaining the
tradition of the deposed bishop Eustathius and governed at
this time by the presbyter Paulinus. The synod of Alexandria
sent deputies to attempt an arrangement between the two
anti-Arian Churches; but before they arrived Paulinus had been
consecrated bishop by Lucifer of Calaris, and when Meletius —
free to return in consequence of the emperor Julian's contemp-
tuous policy — reached the city, he found himself one of three
rival bishops. Meletius was now between two stools. The
orthodox Nicene party, notably Athanasius himself, held
communion with Paulinus only; twice, in 365 and 371 or 372,
Meletius was exiled by decree of the Arian emperor Valens. A
further complication was added when, in 375, Vitalius, one of
Meletius's presbyters, was consecrated bishop by the heretical
bishop Apollinaris of Laodicea.
Meanwhile, under the influence of his situation, Meletius
had been more and more approximating to the views of the
newer school of Nicene orthodoxy. Basil of Caesarea, throwing
over the cause of Eustathius, championed that of Meletius who,
when after the death of Valens he returned in triumph to
Antioch, was hailed as the leader of Eastern orthodoxy. As such
he presided, in October 379, over the great synod of Antioch,
in which the dogmatic agreement of East and West was estab-
lished; it was he who helped Gregory of Nazianzus to the see
of Constantinople and consecrated him ; it was he who presided
over the second oecumenical council at Constantinople in 381.
He died soon after the opening of the council, and the emperor
Theodosius, who had received him with especial distinction,
caused his body to be carried to Antioch and buried with the
honours of a saint. The Meletian schism, however, did not end
with his death. In spite of the advice of Gregory of Nazianzus .
and of the Western Church, the recognition of Paulirius's sole
episcopate was refused, Flavian being consecrated as Meletius's
successor. The Eustathians, on the other hand, elected Evagrius
as bishop onPaulinus's death, and it was not till 415 that
Flavian succeeded in re-uniting them to the Church.
Meletius was a holy man, whose ascetic life was all the
more remarkable in view of his great private wealth. He was
also a man of learning and culture, and widely esteemed for
his honourable, kindly and straightforward character. He is
venerated as a saint and confessor in both the Roman Catholic
and Orthodox Eastern Churches.
94
MELETIUS OF LYCOPOLIS— MELINGUE
See the article G. F. Loofs in Herzog-Hauck, RealencyUopddie
(ed. 1897, Leipzig), xii. 552, and authorities there cited.
MELETIUS OF LYCOPOLIS (4th century), founder of the
sect known after him as the " Meletians," or as the " Church
of the Martyrs," in the district of Thebes in Egypt. With
Peter, archbishop of Alexandria, he was thrown into prison
during the persecution under Diocletian. His importance is
due to his refusal to receive, at least until the persecution had
ceased, those Christians who during the persecutions had
renounced their faith, and then repented. This refusal led to
a breach with Peter, and other Egyptian bishops who were
willing to grant absolution to those who were willing to do
penance for their infidelity. Meletius, after regaining his
freedom, held his ground and drew around him many supporters,
extending his influence even so far away as Palestine. He
ordained 29 bishops and encroached upon Peter's jurisdiction.
The Council of Nicaea in 325 upheld the bishops, but Meletius
was allowed to remain bishop of Lycopolis though with merely
nominal authority. His death followed soon after. His
followers, however, took part with the Arians in the controversy
with Athanasius and existed as a separate sect till the 5th
century.
See Achelis in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyk. xii. (1903) 558, with the
authorities there quoted, and works on Church History.
HELFI, a city and episcopal see of Basilicata, Italy, in the
province of Potenza, 30 m. by rail N. of the town of that name.
Melfi is picturesquely situated on the lower slopes of Monte
Vulture, 1591 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901), 14,547. The
castle was originally erected by Robert Guiscard, but as it now
stands it is mainly the work of the Doria family, who have
possessed it since the time of Charles V. ; and the noble cathedral
which was founded in 11 53 by Robert's son and successor,
Roger, has had a modern restoration (though it retains its
campaniles) in consequence of the earthquake of 1851, when
the town was ruined, over one thousand of the inhabitants
perishing. It is the centre of an agricultural district which
produces oil and wine. In the town hall is a fine Roman
sarcophagus found 6 m. W. of Venosa.
Melfi does not seem to occupy an ancient site, and its origin is
uncertain. By the Normans it was made the capital of Apulia in
1041, and fortified. The council held by Nicholas I. in 1059, that
of Urban II. in 1089, the rebellion against Roger in 1133 and the
subsequent punishment, the plunder of the town by Barbarossa
in 1 167, the attack by Richard, count of Acerra in 11 90, and the
parliament of 1223, in which Frederick II. established the constitu-
tion of the kingdom of Naples, form the principal points of interest
in the annals of Melfi. In 1348 Joanna I. of Naples bestowed the
city on Niccolo Acciajuoli; but it was shortly afterwards captured,
after a six months' siege, by the king of Hungary, who transferred
it to Conrad the Wolf. In 1392 Goffredo Marzano was made
count of Melfi; but Joanna II. granted the lordship to the Caracciolo
family, and they retained it for one hundred and seven years till
the time ot Charles V. An obstinate resistance was offered by the
city to Lautrec de Foix in 1528; and his entrance within its walls
was followed by the massacre, it is said, of 18,000 of its citizens.
See G. de Lorenzo, Venosa e la regione del Vulture (Bergamo,
1906).
MELICERTES, in Greek legend, the son of the Boeotian
prince Athamas and Ino, daughter of Cadmus. Ino, pursued by
her husband, who had been driven mad by Hera because Ino
had brought up the infant Dionysus, threw herself and Melicertes
into the sea from a high rock between Megara and Corinth.
Both were changed into marine deities — Ino as Leucothea,
Melicertes as Palaemon. The body of the latter was carried
by a dolphin to the Isthmus of Corinth and deposited under
a pine tree. Here it was found by his uncle Sisyphus, who had
it removed to Corinth, and by command of the Nereids instituted
the Isthmian games and sacrifices in his honour. There seems
little doubt that the cult of Melicertes was of foreign, probably
Phoenician, origin, and introduced by Phoenician navigators
on the coasts and islands of the Aegean and Mediterranean.
He is a native of Boeotia, where Phoenician influences were
strong; at Tenedos he was propitiated by the sacrifice of children,
which seems to point to his identity with Melkart. The
premature death of the child in the Greek form of the legend is
probably an allusion to this.
The Romans identified Palaemon with Portunus (the harbour
god). No satisfactory origin of the name Palaemon has been
given. It has been suggested that it means the " wrestler " or
straggler " (iraKalw) and is an epithet of Heracles, who is often
identified with Melkart, but there does not appear to be any
traditional connexion between Heracles and Palaemon. Meli-
certes being Phoenician, Palaemon also has been explained as the
" burning lord " (Baal-haman), but there seems little in common
between a god of the sea and a god of fire.
See Apollodorus iii. 4, 3; Ovid, Metam. iv. 416-542, Fasti,
vi. 485 ; Hyginus, Fab. 2 ; Pausanias i. 44, ii. 1 ; Philostratus,
Icones, ii. 16; articles by Toutain in Daremberg and Saglio's Diction-
naire des antiquitis and by Stoll in Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologies
L. Preller, Griechische Mythologie; R. Brown, Semitic Influence in ■
Hellenic Mythology (1898).
MELILLA, a Spanish fortified station and penal settlement
on the north coast of Morocco, south of Cape Tres Forcas and
135 m. E.S.E. of Ceuta. Pop. about 9000. The town is built
on a huge rock connected with the mainland by a rocky isthmus.
There is a harbour, only accessible to small vessels; the roadstead
outside is safe and has deep water a mile to the east of the
fortress. From the landing-place, where a mole is cut out of
the rock, there is a steep ascent to the upper town, charac-
teristically Spanish in appearance. The town is walled, and
the isthmus protected by a chain of small forts. A Moorish
custom-house is placed on the Spanish border beyond the fort
of Santa Isabel, and is the only authorized centre of trade on
the Riff coast between Tetuan and the Algerian frontier. It
thus forms the entrepot for the commerce of the Riff district
and its hinterland. Goat skins, eggs and beeswax are the
principal exports, cotton goods, tea, sugar and candles being
the chief imports. For the period 1 900-1 905 the annual value
of the trade was about £200,000. Melilla, the first place captured
by Spain on the African mainland, was seized from the Moors
in 1490. The Spaniards have had much trouble with the
neighbouring tribes — turbulent Riffians, hardly subject to the
sultan of Morocco. The limits of the Spanish territory round
the fortress were fixed by treaties with Morocco in 1859, i860,
1861 and 1894. In 1893 the Riffians besieged Melilla and
25,000 men had to be despatched against them. In 1908 two
companies, under the protection of El Roghi, a chieftain then
ruling the Riff region, started mining lead and iron some 15 m.
from Melilla and a railway to the mines was begun. In October
of that year the Riffians revolted from the Roghi and raided the
mines, which remained closed until June 1909. On the 9th of
July the workmen were again attacked and several of them
killed. Severe fighting between the Spaniards and the tribesmen
followed. The Riffians having submitted, the Spaniards, in
1 910, restarted the mines and undertook harbour works at
Mar Chica.
See Budgett Meakin, The Land of the Moors (London, 1901),
ch. xix., and the authorities there cited; P. Barre, "Melilla et
les presides espagnols," Rev. franQaise (1908).
MllLINE, FELIX JULES (1838- ), French statesman, was
born at Remiremont on the 20th of May 1838. Having adopted
the law as his profession, he was chosen a deputy in 1872, and
in 1879 he was for a short time under-secretary to the minister
of the interior. In 1880 he came to the front as the leading
spokesman of the party which favoured the protection of French
industries, and he had a considerable share in fashioning the
protectionist legislation of the years 1890-1902. From 1883
to 1885 Meline was minister for agriculture, and in 1888-1889
he was president of the Chamber of Deputies. In 1896 he
became premier (president du conseil) and minister for agriculture,
offices which he vacated in 1898. At one time he editecfta
Republique franqaise, and after his retirement from public life he
wrote Le Retour A la terre et la surproduction industrielle, tout
enfaveur de V agriculture (1905).
MELINGUE, ETIENNE MARIN (1808-1875), French actor
and sculptor, was born in Caen, the son of a volunteer of 1792.
He early went to Paris and obtained work as a sculptor on the
church of the Madeleine, but his passion for the stage soon led
him to join a strolling company of comedians. Finally chance
gave him an opportunity to show his talents, and at the Porte
Saint Martin he became the popular interpreter of romantic
MELIORISM— MELLITIC ACID
95
drama of the Alexandre Dumas type. One of his greatest
successes was as Benvenuto Cellini, in which he displayed his
ability both as an actor and as a sculptor, really modelling
before the eyes of the- audience a statue of Hebe. He sent a
number of statuettes to the various exhibitions, notably one
of Gilbert Louis Duprez as William Tell. Melingue's wife,
Theodorine Thiesset (1813-1886), was the actress selected by
Victor Hugo to create the part of Guanhumara in Burgraves at
the Comedie Francaise, where she remained ten years.
See Dumas, Une Vie d'artisle (1854).
MELIORISM (Lat. tnelior, better), in philosophy, a term given
to that view of the world which believes that at present the sum
of good exceeds the sum of evil and that, in the future, good will
continually gain upon evil. The term is said to have been
invented by George Eliot to express a theory mediating between
optimism and pessimism. The pragmatic movement in philo-
sophy which puts stress upon the duty and value of effort is
naturally favourable to the melioristic view: the best things
that have been said recently in favour of it are found in books
such as William James's Pragmatism.
MELISSUS OF SAMOS, Greek philosopher of the Eleatic
School (q.v.), was born probably not later than 470 B.C. Accord-
ing to Diogenes Laertius, ix. 24, he was not only a thinker,
but also a political leader in his native town, and was in command
of the fleet which defeated the Athenians in 442. The same
authority says he was a pupil of Parmenides and of Heraclitus,
but the statement is improbable, owing to discrepancy in dates.
His works, fragments of which are preserved by Simplicius
and attested by the evidence of Aristotle, are devoted to the
defence of Parmenides' doctrine. They were written in Ionic
and consist of long series of argument. Being, he says, is
eternal. It cannot have had a beginning because it cannot have
begun from not-being (cf. ex nihilo nihil), nor from being (efoj
yap av ovrw kcu ov yevoiro). It cannot suffer destruction;
it is impossible for being to become not being, and if it became
another being, there would be no destruction. According to
Simplicius (Physica, f. 22b), he differed here from Parmenides
in distinguishing being and absolute being (to cbrAws kbv). He
goes on to show that eternal being must also be unlimited in
magnitude, and, therefore, one and unchangeable. Any change
whether from internal or external source, he says, is unthinkable;
the One is unvarying in quantity and in kind. There can be
no division inside this unity, for any such division implies
space or void; but void is nothing, and, therefore, is not. It
follows further that being is incorporeal, inasmuch as all body
has size and parts. The fundamental difficulty underlying this
logic is the paradox more clearly expressed by Zeho and to a
large extent represented in almost all modern discussion, namely
that the evidence of the senses contradicts the intellect. Abstract
argument has shown that change in the unity is impossible;
yet the senses tell us that hot becomes cold, hard becomes soft,
the living dies, and so on. From a comparison of Melissus with
Zeno of Elea, it appears that the spirit of dialectic was already
tentatively at work, though it was not conscious of its own
power. Neither Melissus nor Zeno seems to have observed that
the application of these destructive methods struck at the root
not only of multiplicity but also of the One whose existence they
maintained. The weapons which they forged in the interests
of Parmenides were to be used with equal effect against them-
selves.
See Ritter and Preller, §§ 159-166; Brandis, Commentationum
eleaticarum, pt. I, p. 185; Mullach, Arisiotelis de Melisso, Xenophane,
Gorgia ; Pabst, De Melissi samii fragments (Bonn, 1889), and histories
of philosophy.
MELITO, bishop of Sardis, a Christian writer of the 2nd
century, mentioned by Eusebius {Hist. Eccl. iv. 21) along with
Hegesippus, Dionysius of Corinth, Apollinaris of Hierapolis,
Irenaeus, and others, his contemporaries, as a champion of
orthodoxy and upholder of apostolic tradition. Of his personal
history nothing is known, and of his numerous works (which
are enumerated — with quotations — by Eusebius) only a few
fragments are extant. They included an Apologia addressed to
Antoninus some time between a.d. 169 and i8o> two books
relating to the paschal controversy, and a work entitled 'EkXoyai
(selections from the Old Testament), which contained the first
Christian list of " the books of the Old Covenant." It excludes
Esther, Nehemiah and the Apocrypha. The fragments have
been edited with valuable notes by Routh (Reliquiae sacrae,
vol. i., 1814). These are sufficient to show that Melito was an
important figure in Asia Minor and took much part in the
paschal, Marcionite and Montanist controversies.
It seems more than doubtful whether the Apologia of Melito
" the Philosopher," discovered in a Syriac translation by Henry
Tattam (1789-1868), and subsequently edited by W. Cureton and
by Pitra-Renan, ought to be attributed to this writer and not to
another of the same name. The KXeis (clavis), edited by Pitra-
Renan, is a much later Latin collection of mystical explanations
of Scripture.
See A. Harnack, Texte und Untersuchungen,'i. 240-278 (Leipzig,
1882); Erwin Preuschen, s.v. "Melito" in Herzog-Hauck, Real-
encyklopadie, xii., 1903, giving full list of works and bibliography.
MELKSHAM, a market town in the Westbury parliamentary
division of Wiltshire, England, 934 m. W. of London by the
Great Western railway. Pop. of urban district (1901), 2450.
It lies in a valley sheltered by steep chalk hills on the east,
its old-fashioned stone houses lining a single broad street, which
crosses the Upper Avon by a bridge of four arches. The church
preserves some remnants of Norman work and a Perpendicular
south chapel of rare beauty. Melksham possesses cloth-mills
where coco-nut fibre and hair cloth are woven, flour-mills and
dye-works. On the discovery of a saline spring in 1816, baths
and a pump-room were opened, but although two other springs
were found later, the attempt to create a fashionable health
resort failed. The surrounding deer-forest was often visited by
Edward I. Lacock Abbey, 3 m. distant, was founded in 1232
for Austin canonesses, and dissolved in 1539. Portions of the
monastic buildings remain as picturesque fragments in and
near the modern mansion called Lacock Abbey.
MELLE, a town of western France, capital of an arrondisse-
ment in the department of Deux-Sevres, on the left bank of the
Beronne, 21 m. E.S.E. of Niort by rail. Pop. (1906), 2231.
Melle has two churches in the Romanesque style of Poitou,
St Pierre and St Hilaire, the latter ornamented with sculptured
arcading. The hospital has a richly carved doorway of the
17th century. The church of St Savinien (nth century) serves
as a prison. The town has trade in farm-produce, mules and
other live stock; distilling is carried on. Melle (Metallum)
derives its name from the lead mine worked here during the
Roman occupation and in the early middle ages. At the latter
period it had a mint. In later times it was a possession of the
counts of Maine.
MELLITIC ACID (benzene hexacarboxylic acid), C 6 (COOH) 6 ,
was first discovered in 1799 by M. H. Klaproth in the mineral
honeystone, which is the aluminium salt of the acid. The
acid may be prepared by warming honeystone with ammonium
carbonate, boiling off the excess of the ammonium salt and
adding ammonia to the solution. The precipitated alumina is
filtered off, the filtrate evaporated and the ammonium salt of the
acid purified by recrystallization. The ammonium salt is then
converted into the lead salt by precipitation with lead acetate
and the lead salt decomposed by sulphuretted hydrogen.
The acid may also be prepared by the oxidation of pure carbon,
or of hexamethyl benzene, in the cold, by alkaline potassium
permanganate (F. Schulze, Ber., 1871, 4, p. 802; C. Friedel and J. M.
Crafts, Ann. Mm. phys., 1884 [6], 1, p. 470). It crystallizes in fine
silky needles and is soluble in water and alcohol. It is a very stable
compound, chlorine, concentrated nitric acid and hydriodic acid
having nO action upon it. It is decomposed, on dry distillation,
into carbon dioxide and pyromellitic acid, CioH 6 8 ; when distilled
with lime it gives carbon dioxide and benzene. Long digestion of
the acid with excess of phosphorus pentachloride results in the
formation of the acid chloride, C6(COCl)e, which crystallizes in
needles, melting at 190° C. By heating the ammonium salt of the
acid to 150-160 C. as long as ammonia is evolved, a mixture of
paramide (mellimide), C«( qq > NH J 3 , and ammonium euchroate is
obtained. The mixture may be separated by dissolving out the
ammonium euchroate with water. Paramide is a white amorphous
powder, insoluble in water and alcohol.
9 6
MELLTTUS— MELODY
MELLITUS (d. 624), bishop of London and archbishop of
Canterbury, was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great in
601. He was consecrated by St Augustine before 604, and a
church was built for him in London by Aethelberht, king of
Kent ; this church was dedicated to St Paul, and Mellitus became
first bishop of London. About ten years later the East Saxons
reverted to heathenism and the bishop was driven from
his see. He took refuge in Kent and then in Gaul, but
soon returned to England, and in 619 became archbishop of
Canterbury in succession to Laurentius. He died on the 24th
of April 624.
MELLONI, MACEDONIO (1798-1854), Italian physicist, was
born at Parma on the nth of April 1798. From 1824 to 1831
he was professor at Parma, but in the latter year he was compelled
to escape to France, having taken part in the revolution. In
1839 he went to Naples and was soon appointed director of the
Vesuvius observatory, a post which he held until 1848. Melloni
received the Rumford medal of the Royal Society in 1834.
In 1835 he was elected correspondent of the Paris Academy, and
in 1839 a .foreign member of the Royal Society. He died at
Portici near Naples of cholera on the nth of August 1854.
Melloni's reputation as a physicist rests especially on his dis-
coveries in radiant heat, made with the aid of the thermo-
multiplier or combination of thermopile and galvanometer,
which, soon after the discovery of thermoelectricity by T. J.
Seebeck, was employed by him jointly with L. Nobili in 1831.
His experiments were especially concerned with the power of
transmitting dark heat possessed by various substances and with
the changes produced in the heat rays by passage through
different materials. Substances which were comparatively
transparent to heat he designated by the adjective " diather-
mane," the property being " diathermaneite," while for the heat-
tint or heat-coloration produced by passage through different
materials he coined the word " diathermansie." In English,
however, the terms were not well understood, and " diather-
mancy," was generally used as the equivalent of " diatherma-
neite." In consequence Melloni about 1841 began to use
" diathermique " in place of " diathermane," " diathermasie "
in place of "diathermaneite," and " thermocrose " for " diather-
mansie." His most important book, La thermocrose ou la
coloration calorifique (vol. i., Naples, 1850), was unfinished at
bis death. He studied the reflection and polarization of radiant
heat, the magnetism of rocks, electrostatic induction, daguer-
rotypy, &c.
MELODRAMA (a coined word from Gr. /ieXos, music, and
8pS.ua, action), the name of several species of dramatic com-
position. As the word implies, " melodrama " is properly a
dramatic mixture of music and action, and was first applied
to a form of dramatic musical composition in which music
accompanied the spoken words and the action, but in which
there was no singing. The first example of such a work has
generally been taken to be the Pygmalion of J. J. Rousseau,
produced in 1775. This is the source of romantic dramas
depending on sensational incident with exaggerated appeals to
conventional sentiment rather than on play of character, and
in which dramatis personae follow conventional types— the
villain, the hero wrongfully charged with crime, the persecuted
heroine, the adventuress, &c. At first the music was of some
importance, forming practically a running accompaniment
suitable to the situations — but this has gradually disappeared,
and, if it remains, is used mainly to emphasize particularly strong
situations, or to bring on or off the stage the various principal
characters. Such plays first became' popular in France at the
beginning of the 19th century. One of the most prolific writers
of melodramas at that period was R. C. G. de Pixericouit
( 1 773-1844). The titles of some of his plays give a sufficient
indication of their character; e.g. Victor, ou V enfant de la foret
(1797); Carlina, ou V enfant du mystere (1801); Le Monastere
abandonni, ou la maltdiction paternelle (1816). Another form
of melodrama came from the same source, but developed on
lines which laid more emphasis on the music, and is of some
importance in the history of opera. Probably the first of this
type is to be found in Georg Benda's Ariadne auf Naxos (15*74).
The most familiar of such melodramas is Gay's Beggar's Opera.
In these the dialogue is entirely spoken. In true opera the
spoken dialogue was replaced by recitative. It may be noticed
that the speaking of some parts of the dialogue is not sufficient
to class an opera as a " melodrama " in this sense, as is proved
by the spoken grave-digging scene, accompanied ' by music, in
Fidelio, and the incantation scene in Der FreischUtz. To this' the
English term "declamation" is usually applied; the Germans
use Melodram. But see Opera.
MELODY (Gr. jte\co5ia, a choral song, from n&x>s, tune,
and ($17, song). In musical philosophy and history the word
"melody "-must be used in a very abstract sense, as that aspect
of music which is concerned only with the pitch of successive
notes. Thus a " melodic scale " is a scale of a kind of music
that is not based on an harmonic system; and thus we call
ancient Greek music "melodic." The popular conception : of
melody is that of " air " or " tune," and this is so far from being
a primitive conception that there are few instances of such
melody in recorded music before the 17th century; and even folk-
songs, unless they are of recent origin, deviate markedly from
the criteria of tunefulness. The modern conception of melody
is based on the interaction of every musical category. For us
a melody is the surface of a series of harmonies!, and an unac-
companied melody so far implies harmony that if it so behaves
that simple harmonies expressing clear key-relationships would
be difficult to find for it, we feel it to be strange and vague,
Again, we do not feel music as melodious unless its rhythm is
symmetrical; and this, taken together with the harmonic
rationality of modern melody, brings about an equally intimate
connexion between melody on a large scale and form on a small
scale.. In the article on Sonata Forms it is shown that there
are gradations between the form of some kinds of single melody
like " Barbara Allen " (see Ex. 1) and the larger dance forms of
the suite, and then, again, gradations between these and the
true sonata forms with their immense range of expression and
development. Lastly, the element that appears at first sight
most strictly melodic, namely, the rise and fall of the pitch, is
intimately connected by origin with the nature of the human
voice, and in later forms is enlarged fully as much by the char-
acteristics of instruments as by parallel developments in rhythm,
harmony and form. Thus modern melody is the musical
surface of rhythm, harmony, form and instrumentation; and, if
we take Wagnerian Leitmotif into account, we may as well
add drama to the list. In short, melody is the surface of music.
We may here define a few technicalities which may be said to
come more definitely under the head of melody than any ,other;
but see also Harmony and Rhythm.
1. A theme is a melody, not necessarily or even usually complete,
except when designed for a set of variations {q.v.), but of sufficient
independent coherence to be, so to speak, an intelligible musical
sentence. Thus a fugue-subject is a theme, and the first and
second subjects in sonata form are more or less complex groups
of themes.
2. A figure is the smallest fragment of a theme that can be
recognized when transformed or detached from its surroundings.
The grouping of figures into new melodies is the: most obvious
resource of " development " or " working-out " in the sonata-forms
(see Ex. 2-7), besides being the main resource by which fugues are
carried on at those moments in which the subjects and couhter-
subjeets are not present as wholes, In 16th-century polyphony
melody consists mainly of figures thus broken off from a canto
fermo (see Contrapuntal Forms).
3. Polyphony is simultaneous multiple melody. In 16th-century
music and in fugue-writing every part is as melodious as eVftry
other. The popular cry for melody as an antidote to polyphony
is thus really a curious perversion of the complaint that one may
have too much of a good thing. Several well-known classical
melodies are polyphonically composite, being formed by an inner
melody appearing as it were through transparent places In the
outer melody, which it thus completes. This is especially common
in music for the pianoforte, where the tone of long notes rapidly
fades; and the works of Chopin are full of examples. In Bach a
works for keyed instruments figures frequently have a double mean-
ing on this principle, as, for instance, in the peculiar kind of counter-;
subject in the 15th fugue of the 2nd book of the Wohltemperirtlst
Klavier. A good familiar example of a simple melody which, as
written by the composer, would need two voices to sing it, is that
MELODY
97
which begins the second subject of Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata
(Op. 53, first movement* bars 35-42, where at the third bar of the
melody a lower voice enters and finishes the phrase).
4 (a) Conjunct movement is the movement of melody along
adjacent degrees of the scale. A large proportion of Beethoven's
melodies are conjunct (see Ex. 2, fig. B).
4 (6) Disjunct movement, the opposite of conjunct, tends, though
by no means always, to produce arpeggio types of melody, i.e.
melodies which move up and down the notes of a chord. Certain
types of such ntelody are highly characteristic of Brahms; arid
Wagner, whose melodies are almost always of instrumental origin,
is generally disjunct in diatonic melody and conjunct in chromatic
(Ex. 2, fig. C, is a disjunct figure not forming an arpeggio).
For various other melodic devices, such as inversion, augmenta-
tion and diminution, see Contrapuntal Forms.
We subjoin some musical illustrations showing the treatment
of figures in melody as a means of symmetry (Ex. 1), and "develop-
ment ( Ex. 2-7), and (Ex. 8-13) some modern melodic transforma-
tions, differing from earlier methods in being immediate instead of
gradual. (D. F. T.)
Ex. 1. "Barbara Allen" (showing the germ of binary form in the balance between A 1 on the dominant and A 8 on the tonic).
A 1
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Ex.2. Mainthemeof the first movement of Beethoven's Trio in Bb, Op. 97.
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Ex. 3. Figure A of above developed in a new polyphonic 4-bar phrase. Ex. 4. Further sequential developments of A.
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Ex. 5. Development of C with B.
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Ex. 6. Further development of B by diminution, in combination with the trills derived from C
C* <*r tr
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B diminished.
Ex. 7. Further development of B by diminution and contrary motion
(inversion).
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B invert ed.
Ex. 9. A and B 2 diminished.
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Ex. 8. Brahms, Quintet, Op. 34.
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Ex. 11. rfee Rheindaughter's Toy. Wagner, Das Rheingold.
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Ex. 12. The Nibelung's Talisman.
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Ex. 13^ Walhalla.
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OTTTT 4
9 8
MELON— MELORIA
Transverse section of the
fruit of the melon (Cucumis
meld) , showing the placentas (pi) ,
with the seeds attached to them.
The three carpels forming the
pepo are separated by partitions
(cl). From the centre, processes
(s) go to circumference(Z), ending
in curved placentaries bearing
the ovules.
MELON (Late Lat. melo, shortened form of Gr. firjkvireiruv,
a kind of gourd; nffhov, apple, and ;reirtoi>, ripe), Cucumis melo,
a polymorphic species of the order Cucurbitaceae, including
numerous varieties. 1 The melon is an annual trailing herb
with palmately-lobed leaves, and bears tendrils by means of
which it "is readily trained over trellises, &c. It is monoecious,
rt having male and female flowers
on the same plant; the flowers
have deeply five-lobed campanu-
^late corollas and three stamens.
Naudin observed that in some
varieties (e.g. of Cantaloups)
fertile stamens sometimes occur
in the female flowers. It is a
native of south Asia " from the
foot of the Himalayas to Cape
Comorin," 2 where it grows spon-
taneously, but is cultivated in
the temperate and warm regions
of the whole world. It is vari-
able both in diversity of foliage
and habit, but much more so in
the fruit, which in some varieties
is no larger than an olive, while
in others it rivals the gourd
(Cucurbita maxima). The fruit is
globular, ovoid, spindle-shaped,
or serpent-like, netted or smooth-skinned, ribbed or furrowed,
variously coloured externally, with white, green, or orange flesh
when ripe, scented or scentless, sweet or insipid, bitter or even
nauseous, &c. . Like the gourd, the melon undergoes strange meta-
morphoses by crossing its varieties, though the latter preserve,
their characters when alone. The offspring of all crossings are
fertile. As remarkable cases of sudden changes produced by
artificially crossing races, M. Naudin records that in 1859 the
offspring of the wild melons m. sauvage de I'Inde (C. melo agrestis)
and m. s. d'Afrique, le petit m. de Figari bore different fruits
from their parents, the former being ten to twelve times their
size, ovoid, white-skinned, more or less scented, and with reddish
flesh ; though another individual bore fruits no larger than a nut.
The offspring of m. de Figari after being crossed bore fruits of the
serpent-melon. On the other hand, the serpent-melon was made
to bear ovoid and reticulated fruit.
Naudin thinks it is probable that the culture of the melon in
Asia is as ancient as that of all other alimentary vegetables. The
Egyptians grew it, or at least inferior races of melon, which were
either indigenous or introduced from Asia. The Romans and
doubtless the Greeks were familiar with it, though some forms
may have been described as cucumbers. Columella seems to
refer to the serpent-melon in the phrase ut coluber . . . ventre
cubat flexo. Pliny describes them as pepones (xix. 23 to xx. 6)
and Columella as melones (xi. 2, 53). The melon began to be
extensively cultivated in France in 1629, according to Olivier de
Serres. Gerard (Herball, 772) figured and described in 1597
several kinds of melons or pompions, but he has included gourds
under the same name.
The origin of some of the chief modern races, such as " Canta-
loups," " Dudaim," and probably the netted sorts, is due to
Persia and the neighbouring Caucasian regions. The first of
these was brought to Rome from Armenia in the 1 6th century,
and supplies the chief sorts grown for the French markets; but
many others are doubtless artificial productions of west Europe.
The water-melon (Citrullus vulgaris) is a member of a different
genus of the same order. It has been cultivated for its cool
refreshing fruit since the earliest times in Egypt and the Orient,
and was known before the Christian era in southern Europe and
Asia.
The melon requires artificial heat to grow it to perfection, the
1 For a full account of the species of Cucumis and of the varieties
of melon by Charles Naudin, see Annates des sciences naturelles,
ter 4, vol. xi. p. 34 (1859).
1 Naudin, loc. cit. pp. 39, 76.
rock and cantaloup varieties succeeding with a bottom heat of 70
and an atmospheric temperature of 75 °, rising with sun heat
to 80°, and the Persian varieties requiring a bottom heat of 75°,
gradually increasing to 8o°, and an atmospheric temperature
ranging from 75° to 8o° when the fruit is swelling, as much sun
heat as the plants can bear being allowed at all times. The melon
grows best in rich turfy loam, somewhat heavy, with which a little
well-rotted dung, especially that of pigeons or fowls, should be
used, in the proportion of one-fifth mixed in the compost of loam.
Melons are grown on hotbeds of fermenting manure, when the soil
should be about a foot in thickness, or in pits heated either by hot
water or fermenting matter, or in houses heated by hot wafer, in
which case the soil bed should be 15 or 18 in. thick. The fer-
menting materials should be well prepared, and, since the heat has
to be kept up by linings, it is a good plan to introduce one or two
layers of faggots in building up the bed. A mixture of dung and
leaves gives a more subdued but more durable heat.
For all ordinary purposes February is early enough for sowing the
first crop, as well-flavoured fruits can scarcely be looked for before
May. The seeds may be sown singly in 3-in. pots in a mixture of
leaf-mould with a little loam, the pots being plunged in a bottom
heat of 75 to 80°, and as near the glass as possible, in order that the
young plants may not be drawn up. The hill or ridge of soil should
be about a foot in thickness, the rest of the surface being afterwards
made up nearly to the same level. If the fruiting-bed is not ready
when the roots have nearly filled the pots, they must be shifted
into 4-inch pots, for they must not get starved or pot -bound. Two
or three plants are usually planted in a mound or ridge of soil
placed in the centre of each light, and the rest of the surface is
covered over to a similar depth as soon as the roots have made
their way through the mound.
The melon being one of those plants which produce distinct
male and female flowers, it is necessary to its fertility that both
should be produced, and that the pollen of the male flower should,
either naturally by insect agency, or artificially by the cultivator's
manipulation, be conveyed to the stigma of the female flower;
this setting of the fruit is often done by stripping a male flower of
its corolla, and inverting it in the centre of the fruit-bearing flower.
After the fruit has set and has grown to the size of an egg, it should
be preserved from contact with the soil by placing it on a piece of
tile or slate; or if grown on a trellis by a little swinging wooden
shelf, just large enough to hold it. In either case the material used
should be tilted a little to one side, so as to permit water to drain
away. Before the process of ripening commences, the roots should
have a sufficient supply of moisture, so that none may be required
from that time until the fruit is cut.
When the melon is grown in a house there should be a good depth
of drainage over the tank or other source of bottom heat, and
on this should be placed turfs, grass side downwards, below the
soil, which should not be less than 15 and need not be more than
18 in. in thickness. The compost should be made moderately
firm, and only half the bed should be made up at first, the rest being
added as the roots require it. The melon may also be grown in
large pots, supplied with artificial manure or manure water. The
stems may be trained up the trellis in the usual way, or the rafters
of a pine stove may be utilized for the purpose. If the trellis is
constructed in panels about the width of the lights, it can be taken
down and conveniently stowed away when not in use.
The presence of too much moisture either in the atmosphere or
in the soil is apt to cause the plants to damp off at the neck, but the
evil may be checked by applying a little fresh-slaked lime round
the stem of the plant. '
Melons are liable to the attack of red spider, which are best
removed by syringing with rain-water, and prevented by keeping
a fairly humid atmosphere; green or black fly should also be watched
for and removed by fumigation with tobacco smoke or by
" vaporizing."
The varieties of melon are continually receiving additions, and
as newer varieties spring into favour, so the older ones drop out
of cultivation. A great deal depends on getting the varieties true
to name, as they are very liable to get cross-fertilized by insect
agency. Some of the best at present are :
Scarlet-fleshed. — Blenheim Orange, Frogmore Orange, Invincible,
Sutton's Scarlet, and Triumph.
White-fleshed. — Golden Orange, Hero of Lockinge, Longleat
Perfection, Royal Favourite.
Green-fleshed. — British Queen, Epicure, Exquisite, MonaTrch,
Ringleader.
The market-gardeners round Paris and other parts of France
chiefly cultivate varieties of Cantaloup melon known as the Prescott
hatif a chassis and Prescott fond blanc — both excellent in flavour.
The plants are grown in frames on hotbeds, and only one large
fruit is allowed to mature on each plant. If secured early in the
season : — say in June — from 25 to 35 francs can be obtained for each
fruit in the Paris markets; later fruits, however, drop down to 2
francs each, or even less when there is a glut (see J. Weathers,
French Market-Gardening).
MELORIA, a rocky islet, surrounded by a shoal, almost
opposite Leghorn. It was the scene of two naval battles of the
MELOS— MELOZZO DA FORLI
99
middle ages. The first, on the 3rd of May 1241, was fought
between the fleet of the emperor Frederick II. Hohenstaufen,
surnamed Stupor Mundi, in alliance with Pisa, against a Genoese
squadron bringing a number of English, French and Spanish
prelates to attend the council summoned to meet at the Lateran
by Gregory IX. Three Genoese galleys were sunk and twenty-
two taken. Several of the prelates perished, and many were
carried prisoners to the camp of the emperor. The second,
fought on Sunday the 6th of August 1 284, was of higher historical
importance. It was a typical medieval sea-fight, and accom-
plished the ruin of Pisa as a naval power. The long rivalry of
that city and of Genoa had broken out for the last time in 1282,
the immediate cause being the incompatible claims of the two
cities to sovereignty over the islands of Sardinia and Corsica.
The earlier conflicts of the war in 1282, 1283 and the spring of
1284, had been unfavourable to Pisa. Though the city was
united with the Catalans and with Venice in hostility to Genoa,
and though it had chosen a Venetian, Alberto Morosini, as its
Podesta, it received no help from either. The Genoese, who had
the larger and more efficient fleet, sent their whole power against
their enemy. When the Genoese appeared off Meloria the
Pisans were lying in the river Arno at the mouth of which lay
Porto Pisano the port of the city. The Pisan fleet represented
the whole power of the city, and carried members of every family
of mark and most of the great officers of state. The Genoese,
desiring to draw their enemy out to battle, and to make the
action decisive, arranged their fleet in two lines abreast. The
first was composed according to Agostino Giustiniani of fifty-
eight galleys, and eight panfili, a class of light galleys of eastern
origin named after the province of Pamphylia. Uberto Doria,
the Genoese admiral, was stationed in the centre and in advance
of his line. To the right were the galleys of the Spinola family,
and of four of the eight " companies " into which Genoa was
divided — Castello, Piazzalunga, Macagnana and Son Lorenzo.
To the left were the galleys of the Dorias, and of the other four
companies, Porta, Soziglia, Porta Nuova and II Borgo. The
second line of twenty galleys, under the command of Benedetto
Giacaria (or Zaccharie), was placed so far behind the first that
the Pisans could not see whether it was made up of war-vessels
or of small craft meant to act as tenders to the others. Yet it
was near enough to strike in and decide the battle when the action
had begun. The Pisans, commanded by the Podesta Morosini
and his lieutenants Ugolino della Gherardescha and Andreotto
Saraceno, came out in a single body. It is said that while the
archbishop was blessing the fleet the silver cross of his archi-
episcopal staff fell off, but that the omen was disregarded by the
irreverence of the Pisans, who declared that if they had the
wind they could do without divine help. They advanced in line
abreast to meet the first line of the Genoese, fighting according
to the medieval custom to ram and, board. The victory was
decided for Genoa by the squadron of Giacaria which fell on the
flank of the Pisans. Their fleet was nearly annihilated, the
Podesta was taken, and Ugolino fled with a few vessels. As
Pisa was also attacked by Florence and Lucca it could never
recover the disaster. Two years later Genoa took Porto Pisano,
and filled up the harbour. The count Ugolino was afterwards
starved to death with several of his sons and grandsons in the
manner made familiar by the 3 2nd canto of Dante's Inferno.
See Annali della republica di Genova, by Agostino Giustiniani
(ed. Canepa, Genoa, 1854). (D. H.)
HELOS (mod. Milo), an island of the Aegean Sea (Cyclades
group), at the S.W. corner of the archipelago, 75 m. due E. from
the coast of Laconia. From E. to W. it measures about 14 m.,
from N. to S. 8 m., and its area is estimated at 52 Sq. m. The
greater portion is rugged and hilly, culminating in Mount Elias
in the west (2538 ft.). Like the rest of the cluster, the island
is of volcanic origin, with tuff, trachyte and obsidian among its
ordinary rocks. The natural harbour, which, with a depth
diminishing from 70 to 30 fathoms, strikes in from the north-
west so as to cut the island into two fairly equal portions, with
an isthmus not more than ij m. broad, is the hollow of the prin-
cipal crater. In one of the caves on the south coast the heat is
still great, and on the eastern shore of the harbour there are hot
sulphurous springs. Sulphur is found in abundance on the top
of Mount Kalamo and elsewhere. In ancient times the alum of
Melos was reckoned next to that of Egypt (Pliny xxxv. 15 [52]),
and millstones, salt (from a marsh at the east end of the harbour),
and gypsum are still exported. The Melian earth (717 M^Xtas)
was employed as a pigment by ancient artists. Orange, olive,
cypress and arbutus trees grow throughout the island, which,
however, is too dry to have any profusion of vegetation. The
vinej the cotton plant and barley are the main objects of culti-
vation. Pop. (1907), 4864 (commune), 12,774 (province).
The harbour town is Adamanta; from this there is an ascent
to the plateau above the harbour, on which are situated Plaka,
the chief town, and Kastro, rising on a hill above it, and other
villages. The ancient town of Melos was nearer to the entrance
of the harbour than Adamanta, and occupied the slope between
the village of Trypete and the landing-place at Klima. Here is a
theatre of Roman date and some remains of town walls and othei
buildings, one with a fine mosaic excavated by the British school
at Athens in 1896. Numerous fine works of art have been found
on this site, notably the Aphrodite of Melos in the Louvre, the
Asclepius in the British Museum, and the Poseidon and an
archaic Apollo in Athens. The position of Melos, between
Greece and Crete, arid its possession of obsidian, made it an
important centre of early Aegean civilization. At this time
the chief settlement was at the place now called Phylakopi,
on the north-east coast. Here the excavations of the British
school cleared many houses, including a palace of " Mycenaean"
type; there is also a town wall. Part of the site has been washed
away by the sea. The antiquities found were of three main
periods, all preceding the Mycenean age of Greece. Much
pottery was found, including examples of a peculiar style, with
decorative designs, mostly floral, and also considerable deposits
of obsidian. There are some traditions of a Phoenician occupa-
tion of Melos. In historical times the island was occupied by
Dorians from Laconia. In the 6th century it again produced
a remarkable series of vases, of large size, with mythological
subjects and orientalizing ornamentation (see Greek Art, fig. 9),
and also a series of terra-cotta reliefs.
Though Melos inhabitants sent a contingent to the Greek fleet
at Salamis, it held aloof from the Attic league, and sought to
remain neutral during the Peloponnesian War. But in 416 B.C.
the Athenians, having attacked the island and compelled the
Melians to surrender, slew all the men capable of bearing arms,
made slaves of the women and children, and introduced
500 Athenian colonists. Lysander restored the island to its
Dorian possessors, but it never recovered its former prosperity.
There were many Jewish settlers in Melos in the beginning of the
Christian era, and Christianity was early introduced. During
the " Frankish " period the island formed part of the duchy
of Naxos, except for the few years (1341-1383) when it was a
separate lordship under Marco Sanudo and his daughter.
Antimelos or Antimilo, 55 m. north-west of Milo, is an un-
inhabited mass of trachyte, often called Eremomilo or Desert
Melos. Kimolos, or Ar gentler a, less than 1 m. to the north-east,
was famous in antiquity for its figs and fuller's earth (KijucoXia
717), and contained a considerable city, the remains of which
cover the cliff of St Andrews. Polinos, Polybos or Polivo (anc.
Polyaegos) lies rather more than a mile south-east of Kimolos.
It was the subject of dispute between the Melians and Kimolians.
It has long been almost uninhabited.
See Leycester, " The Volcanic Group of Milo, Anti-Milo, &c,"
in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. (1852) ; Tournefort, Voyage; Leake, Northern
Greece, iii. ; Prokesch von Osten, Denkwiirdigkeiten, &c. ; Bursian,
Geog. von Griechenland, ii. ; Journ. Hell. Stud, xvi., xvii., xviii.;
Excavations at Phylakopi; Inscr. graec. xii. iii. 197 sqq. ; on coins
found in 1909, see Jameson in Rev. Num. 1909; 188 sqq. (E. Gr.)
MELOZZO DA FORLi (c. 1438-1494), Italian painter, the first
who practised foreshortening with much success, was born at
Forli about 1438; he came, it is supposed, of a wealthy family
named Ambrosi. In all probability, Melozzo studied pointing
under Piero de' Franceschi, of Borgo St Sepolcro; he seems also
to have been well acquainted with Giovanni Santi, the father of
IOO
MEiaDSSE
Raphael. It has been said that he became a journeyman and
colour-grinder to some of the best masters, in order to prosecute
his studies; this lacks confirmation. Only three works are
extant which can safely be assigned to Melozzo: those in the
Louvre, the National Gallery, London, and the Barberini Palace,
Rome, are disputable, (i) He painted in 1472 the vault of the
chief chapel in the church of the Apostoli in Rome, his subject
being the " Ascension of Christ "; the figure of Christ is so boldly
and effectively foreshortened that it seems to " burst through
the vaulting " ; this fresco was taken down in 1 7 n, and the figure
of Christ is now in the Quirinal Palace, not worthy of special
admiration save in its perspective quality; while some of the
other portions, almost Raphaelesque in merit, are in the sacristy
of St Peter's. (2) Between 1475 and 1480 he executed a fresco,
now transferred to canvas, and placed in the Vatican picture-
gallery, representing the appointment of Platina by Pope Sixtus
IV. as librarian of the restored Vatican library. (3) In the
Collegio at Forli is a fresco by Melozzo, termed the " Pestapepe,"
or Pepper-grinder, originally painted as a grocer's sign; it is an
energetic specimen of rather coarse realism, now much damaged.
Melozzo also painted the cupola of the Capuchin church at Forli,
destroyed in 1651; and it has been said that he executed at
Urbino some of the portraits of great men (Plato, Dante, Sixtus
IV., &c.) which are now divided between the Barberini Palace
and the Campana collection in Paris; this, however, is doubtful,
and it is even questionable whether Melozzo was ever at Urbino.
In Rome he was one of the original members of the academy of
St Luke, founded by Sixtus IV. He returned to Forli, probably
towards 1480, and died in November 1494. He contributed
sensibly to the progress of pictorial art; and, without being re-
markable as a colourist, gave weH graded lights, with general
care and finish, and fine dignified figures. His works bear a
certain resemblance to those of his contemporary Mantegna.
Marco Palmezzano was his pupil; and the signature " Marcus de
Melotius " on some of Palmezzano's works, along with' the general
affinity of style, has led to their being ascribed to Melozzo, who
has hence been incorrectly called " Marco Melozzo."
MELROSE, a city of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, U.S.A.,
about 7 m. N. of Boston. Pop. (1800), 8519; (1900), 12,962, of
whom 2924 were foreign-born and 130 were negroes; (1916 cen-
sus) 15,715. It is served by the Boston &; Maine railroad,
and by inter-urban electric railways. The city covers 4-8 sq. m.
of broken, hilly country, in which is a part of the state park of
Middlesex Fells; it includes the villages of Melrose, Melrose High-
lands, Wyoming and Fells. In 1905 the total factory product
was valued at $9,450,929 (an increase of 176-6% over the value
of the factory product in 1900). The principal products are
rubber shoes (at the village of Fells), skirts (at the village of
Wyoming), and leather and silverware (at Melrose Highlands).
The water supply of Melrose, like that of Stoneham and of Med-
ford, is derived from the metropolitan reservoir called Spot Pond
in Stoneham, immediately, west of Melrose. The city was the
home of Samuel Adams Drake (1833-1905), American historian,
whose History of Middlesex County (Boston, 1880; vol. 2, "Mel-
rose," by E. H. Goss) should be consulted; and of William
Frederick Poole (1821-1894), the librarian and the originator of
indexes of periodical literature. Melrose was settled about 1633,
and was a part of Charlestown until 1649, and of Maiden until
1850. The eastern part of Stoneham was annexed to it in 1853.
In 1899 it was chartered as a city; the charter came into effect in
1 900. The name is said to be due to a resemblance of the scenery
to that of Melrose, Scotland.
MELROSE, a police burgh of Roxburghshire, Scotland. Pop.
(1901), 2195. It lies on the right bank of the Tweed, 375 m:
S-E. of Edinburgh, and 19 m. N.W. of Jedburgh, via St
Boswells and Roxburgh, by the North British railway. The
name — which Bede (730) wrote Mailros and Simeon of Durham
(1130) Melros — is derived from the Celtic maol ros, " bare moor,"
and the town figures in Sir Waltei Scott's Abbot and Monastery
as " Kennaquhair." In consequence of the beauty of its situa-
tion between the Eildons and the Tweed, the literary and
historical associations ot the district, and the famous ruin of
Melrose Abbey, the town has become residential and a holiday
resort. , There is a hydropathic establishment on Skirmish Hill,
the name commemorating the faction fight pn the 25th of July
1526, in which the Scotts defeated, the Douglases and Kers.
Trade is almost wholly agricultural. The main streets run from
the angles of the triangular market-place, in which stands the
market , cross, dated 1642, but probably much older. Across
the river are Gattonside, with numerous orchards, and Allerly,
the home of Sir David Brewster from 1827 till his death in
1868.
The original Columban monastery was founded in the 7th
century at Old Melrose, about 2§ m. to the east, inthe loop of a
great bend of. the Tweed. It was colonized from Lindisfarne,
Eata, a disciple of Aidan, being the first abbot (651), and Boisil
and Cuthbert being priors here. It. was burned by Kenneth
Macalpine in 839 during the wars between Scot and Saxon, and,
though rebuilt, was deserted in the middle pf the nth century.
The chapel, dedicated to St Cuthbert, continued for a period to
attract many pilgrims, but this usage gradually declined and the
building was finally destroyed by English invaders. Meanwhile
in 1 136 David I. and founded an abbey dedicated to the Virgin,
a little higher up the Tweed, the first Cistercian settlement in
Scotland, with monks from Rievaulx in Yorkshire. Lying in the
direct road from England, the abbey was frequently assaulted and
in 1322 was destroyed by Edward II. Rebuilt, largely by means
of a gift of. Robert Bruce, it was nearly burned-down in 1385 by
Richard II. Erected once more, it was reduced to; ruin by the
earl of Hertford (afterwards the Protector Somerset) in 1545.
Later the Reformers dismantled much of what was left. The
adaptation of part of the nave to the purposes of a parish church
and the use of the building as a quarry did further damage.
The ruins, however, now the property of the duke of Buccleuch,
are carefully preserved. Of the conventual buildings apart
from the church nothing has survived but a fragment of the
cloister with a richly-carved round-headed doorway and some
fine arcading. The abbey, cruciform, is in the Decorated and Per-r
pendicular styles, with pronounced French influence, due probably
to the master mason John Morow, or Morreau, ; who, according
to an inscription on the south transept wall, was born in Paris,
The south front is still beautiful. The west front and a large
portion of the north half of the nave and aisle have perished, but
the remains include the rest of the nave, the two transepts, the
chancel and choir, the two western piers of the tower and the
sculptured roof of the east end. From east to west it measured
258 ft., the nave is 69 ft. wide and the width of the transepts from
north to south is n 55 ft. The nave had an aisle on each side,
the north noticeably the narrower, the south furnished with
eight chapels, one in each bay. Both transepts contained an
eastern aisle, and the chancel a square chapel at its west end 09
each side. Over the south transept aisle, which was the chapel
of St Bridget, is tfie clerestory passage, which ran all round the
church. The choir extended westwards for three bays beyond
the tower and terminated in a stone rood-screen. Sir Walter
Scott has immortalized the east window, in The Lay of : the Last
Minstrel, but the south window with .its flowing tracery is even
finer. In the carving of windows, aisles, cloister, capitals, bosses
and doorheads no design is repeated. The heart of Robert
Bruce was buried at the high altar,- and in the chancel are the
tombs of Sir William Douglas, the Knight of Liddesdale (1300-
I 353) ! James 2nd earl of Douglas (1358-1388), the victor of
Otterburn; Alexander II.; and Michael Scot "the Wl^d "
(1175-1234) — though some authorities say that this is the tomb
of Sir Brian Layton, who.fell in the battle of Ancrum Moor (1544)1
At the door leading from the north transept to the sacristy is the
grave of Joanna (d. 1 238), queen of Alexander II.
The muniments of the abbacy, preserved in the archives of the
earl of Morton, were edited by Cosmo Innes for the Bannatyne
Club and published in 1837 under the title of Liber saticte
Marie de Melros. Among the documents is one of, the earliest
specimens of the Scots dialect. The Chronica de Mailros, preserved
among the Cotton MSS., was printed at Oxford in 1684 by Williain
Futnjan and by the Bannatyne Club In 1835 under the editorship
of John Stevenson.
MELTON MOWBRAY— MELVILLE, ANDREW
IOI
MELTON MOWBRAY, a market town in the Melton parlia-
mentary division of Leicestershire, England, pleasantly situated
in a fertile vale, at the confluence of the Wreake and the Eye.
Pop. of urban district (1901), 7454. It is 105 m. N.N.W. from
London by the Midland railway, and is served by a joint branch
of the London & North Western and Great Northern railways.
The church of St Mary, a fine cruciform structure, Early English
and later, with a lofty and richly ornamented central tower, was
enlarged in the reign of Elizabeth. Melton is the centre of a
celebrated hunting district, in connexion with which there are
large stables in the town. It is known for its pork pies, and has
a trade in Stilton cheese. There are breweries and tanneries and
an important cattle market. There are blast furnaces in the
neighbouring parish of Asfordby for the smelting of the abun-
dant supply of iron ore in the district. During the Civil War
Melton was in February 1644 the scene of a defeat of the parlia-
mentary forces by the royalists. It is the birthplace of John
Henley the orator (1692-1759).
MELUN, a town of northern France, capital of the department
of Seine-et-Marne, situated north of the forest of Fontainebleau,
28 m. S.S.E. of Paris by rail. Pop. (1906), 11,219. The town
is divided into three parts by the Seine. The principal portion
lies on the slope of a hill on the right bank; on the left bank is the
most modern quarter, while the old Roman town occupies an
island in the river. On the island stands the Romanesque
church of Notre-Dame (nth and 12th centuries), formerly part
of a nunnery, the site of which is occupied by a prison. The
other public buildings are on the right bank of the river. Of
these, the most striking is the church of St Aspais, an irregularly
shaped structure of the 15th and 16th centuries, on the apse of
which may be seen a modern medallion in bronze, the work of
the sculptor H. Chapu, representing Joan of Arc as the liberator
of Melun. The h6tel-de-ville (1847) — in the construction of which
an old mansion and turret have been utilized — and the tower
of St Bartholomew of the 16th and 18th centuries are also of
interest. In the courtyard of the former there is a monument to
Jacques Amyot, the translator of Plutarch, who was born at
Melun in 1513. Among the rich estates in the neighbourhood
the most remarkable is the magnificent chateau of Vaux-le-
Vicomte, which belonged to Nicholas Fouquet, intendant of
finances under Louis XIV. Melun is a market for grain and farm
produce, and its industries include brewing, tanning, distilling,
sawing and the manufacture of agricultural implements, clogs,
fur garments, lime, cement and plaster.
In Caesar's Gallic wars Melun (Melodunum) was taken by his
lieutenant Labienus, in order to facilitate the attack of Lutetia
by the right bank of the Seine. It was pillaged by the Normans,
and afterwards became the favourite residence of the first kings of
the race of Capet; Robert and Philip I. both died here. In 1359
Melun was given up by Jeanne of Navarre to her brother, Charles
the Bad, but was retaken by the dauphin Charles and Bertrand
Duguesclin. In 1420 it made an heroic defence against Henry V.
of England and his ally the duke of Burgundy. Ten yeajs later
the people of Melun, with the help of Joan of Arc, drove out the
English. It was occupied by the League in 1589, and retaken by
Henry IV. in the following year.
MELUSINE, the tutelary fairy of the house of Lusignan, was
the eldest daughter of the fairy Pressine, to avenge whose wrongs
she shut up her father in a mountain in Northumberland. For
this she was condemned to be metamorphosed every Saturday
into a woman-serpent— that is, to be a serpent from the hips
downwards. She might, however, be eventually saved from this
punishment if she could find a husband who would never see
her on a Saturday. Such a husband was found in Raymond,
nephew of the count of Poitiers, who became rich and powerful
through the machinations of his wife. She built the castle of
Lusignan and many other of the family fortresses. When at
length her husband gave way to his curiosity, and saw her taking
the bath of purification on a Saturday she flew from the castle
in the form of a serpent. Thenceforward the death of a member
of the house of Lusignan was heralded by the cries of the fairy
serpent. " Pousser des cris de Melusine " is still a popular
saying.
This history is related at length, with the adventures of
Melusine's numerous progeny, by Jean d' Arras, in his Chroniqut de
la princesse, written in 1387 at the desire of John, duke of Berry,
for the amusement of the duke and of his sister Marie of France,
duchess of Bar. It is one of the most charming of the old prose
romances in manner and style, and is natural in spite of the free
use of the marvellous. An attempt has been made by Jules
Baudot in Les Princesses Yolande et les dues de Bar\ Paris, 1900) to
make it a roman a cli and to identify the personages. Melusine,
Mellusine or Merlusine is, however, simply the spirit of the
fountain of Lusignan, and the local Poitevin myth is attached to
the origin of the noble house. The etymology of the word ha?
been variously and fancifully given. Some writers have supposed
Merlusine to be a corruption of mere Lucine {mater Lucina), the
deity invoked in child-birth. She has been identified with
Melisende, widow of a king of Jerusalem, and with Mervant, wife
of Geoffroi de Lusignan.
The MSlusine of Jean d'Arras was printed by Adam Steinschaber
at Geneva in 1478, and was reprinted many times in the 15th
and 16th centuries. It has been translated into Spanish, English,
German and Flemish. Modern editions are by J. C. Brunet (Paris,
1854), and by E. Lecesne for the Academy of Arras (Arras, 1888).
The English translation was edited from a unique MS. in the
British Museum by A. K. Donald for the E.E.T.S. (1895). The tale
was versified in the 14th century by a poet called Couldrette,
whose poem was published in 1854 by Francisque Michel. See
further J. C. Dunlop, Hist, of Fiction, ii. 491-493 (new ed., 1888);
S. Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, pp. 470 seq.
(new ed., 1881) ; and J. C. Brunet, Manuel du libraire (vol. iii., 1862,
s.v. Jean d'Arras).
MELVILLE, ANDREW (1545-1622), Scottish scholar, theo-
logian and religious reformer, was the youngest son of Richard
Melville (brother to Melville of Dysart), proprietor of Baldovy
near Montrose, at which place Andrew was born on the 1st of
August 1545. His father fell at the battle of Pinkie (1547),
fighting in the van of the Scottish army, and, his wife having died
soon after, the orphan was cared for by his eldest brother
Richard (1522-157 5). At an early age Melville began to show a
taste for learning, and his brother did everything in his power
to give him the best education. The rudiments of Latin he
obtained at the grammar school of Montrose, after leaving which
he learned Greek for two years under Pierre de Marsilliers, a
Frenchman whom John Erskine of Dun had induced to settle
at Montrose; and such was Melville's proficiency that on going
to the university of St Andrews he excited the astonishment of
the professors by using the Greek text of Aristotle, which no one
else there understood. On completing his course, Melville left
St Andrews with the reputation of " the best poet, philosopher,
and Grecian of any young master in the land." He then, in
1564, being nineteen years of age, set out for France to perfect
his education at the university of Paris. He there applied
himself to Oriental languages, but also attended the last course
of lectures delivered by Turnebus in the Greek chair, as well as
those of Peter Ramus, whose philosophical method and plan of
teaching he afterwards introduced into the universities of Scot'
land. From Paris he proceeded to Poitiers (1566) to study civil
law, and though only twenty-one he was apparently at once made
a regent in the college of St Marceon. After a residence of three
years, however, political troubles compelled him to leave France,
and he went to Geneva, where he was welcomed by Theodore
Beza, at whose instigation he was appointed to the chair of
humanity in the academy of Geneva. In addition to his teaching,
however, he also applied himself to studies in Oriental literature,
and in particular acquired from Cornelius Bertram, one of Jjis
brother professors, a knowledge of Syriac. While he resided at?
Geneva the massacre of St Bartholomew in .1572 drove an
immense number of Protestant refugees to that city, including
several of the most distinguished French men of letters of the
time. Among these were several men learned in civil law. and
political science, and their society increased Melville's knowledge
of the world and enlarged his ideas of civil and ecclesiastical
liberty. In 1574 Melville returned to Scotland, and almost
immediately received the appointment of principal of Glasgow
University, which had fallen into an almost ruinous state, the
college having been shut and the students dispersed. Melville,
102
MELVILLE, ARTHUR—MELVILLE, H.
however, set himself to establish a good educational system. He
enlarged the curriculum at the college, and established chairs
in languages, science, philosophy and divinity, which were
confirmed by charter in 1577. His fame spread through the
kingdom, and students flocked from all parts of Scotland and
even beyond, till the class-rooms could not contain those who
came for admission. He assisted in the reconstruction of
Aberdeen University in 1575, and in order that he might do for
St Andrews what he had done for Glasgow, he was appointed
principal of St Mary's College, St Andrews, in 1580. His duties
there comprehended the teaching, not only of theology, but of
the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac and Rabbinical languages. The
ability of his lectures was universally acknowledged, and he
created a taste for the study of Greek literature. The reforms,
however, which his new modes of teaching involved, and even
some of his new doctrines, such as the non-infallibility of Aristotle,
brought him into collision with other teachers in the university.
He was moderator of the General Assembly in 1582, and took
part in the organization of the Church and the Presbyterian
method. Troubles arose from the attempts of the court to force
a system of Episcopacy upon the Church of Scotland (see Scot-
land, Church of), and Melville prosecuted one of the " tulchan "
bishops (Robert Montgomery, d. 1609). In consequence of this
he was summoned before the Privy Council in February 1584,
and had to flee into England in order to escape an absurd charge
of treason which threatened imprisonment and not improbably
his life. After an absence of twenty months he returned to
Scotland in November 1585, and in March 1586 resumed his
lectures in St Andrews, where he continued for twenty years;
he became rector of the university in 1590. During the whole
time he protected the liberties of the Scottish Church against
all encroachments of the government. That in the main he and
his coadjutors were fighting for the constitutionally guaranteed
rights of the Church is admitted by all candid inquirers (see in
particular The History of England from 1603 to 1616, by S. R.
Gardiner, vol. i. chap. ix.). The chief charge against Melville
is that his fervour often led him to forget the reverence due to an
" anointed monarch." Of this, however, it is not easy to judge.
Manners at that time were rougher than at present. When the
king acted in an arbitrary and illegal manner he needed the
reminder that though he was king over men he was only " God's
silly vassal." Melville's rudeness (if it is to be called so) was the
outburst of just indignation from a man zealous for the purity
of religion and regardless of consequences to himself. In 1599
he was deprived of the rectorship, but was made dean of the
faculty of theology. The close of Melville's career in Scotland
was at length brought about by James in characteristic fashion.
In 1606 Melville and seven other clergymen of the Church of
Scotland were summoned to London in order " that his majesty
might treat with them of such things as would tend to settle the
peace of the Church." The contention of the whole of these
faithful men was that the only way to accomplish that purpose
was a free Assembly. Melville delivered his opinion to that
effect in two long speeches with his accustomed freedom, and,
having shortly afterwards written a sarcastic Latin epigram on
some of the ritual practised in the chapel of Hampton Court, and
some eavesdropper having conveyed the lines to the king, he
was committed to the tower, and detained there for four years.
On regaining his liberty, and being refused permission to return
to his own country, he was invited to fill a professor's chair in the
university of Sedan, and there he spent the last eleven years of his
life. He died at Sedan in 1622, at the age of seventy-seven.
See McCries, Andrew Melville (ed. 1819); Andrew Lang, History
of Scotland (1902). (D. Mn.)
MELVILLE, ARTHUR (1858-1904), British painter, was born
in Scotland, in a village of Haddingtonshire. He took up paint-
ing at an early age, and though he attended a night-school and
studied afterwards in Paris and Grez, he learnt more from
practice and personal observation than from school training.
The remarkable colour-sense which is so notable a feature of his
work, whether in oils or in water-colour, came to him during his
travels in Persia, Egypt and India. Melville, though compara-
tively little known during his lifetime, was one of the most
powerful influences in contemporary art, especially in his broad
decorative treatment with water-colour. • Though his vivid
impressions of colour and movement are apparently recorded
with feverish haste, they are the result of careful deliberation
and selection. He was at his best in his water-colours of Eastern
life and colour and his Venetian scenes, but he also painted several
Striking portraits in oils and a powerful colossal composition of
" The Return from the Crucifixion " which remained unfinished
at his death in 1904. At the Victoria and Albert Museum is one
of his water-colours, " The Little Bull-Fight- — Bravo, Toro! " and
another, " An Oriental Goatherd," is in the Weimar Museum.
But the majority of his pictures have been absorbed by private
collectors.
A comprehensive memorial exhibition of Melville's works was
held at the Royal Institute Galleries in London in 1906.
MELVILLE, HENRY DUNDAS, ist Viscount (1742-1811),
British statesman, fourth son of Robert Dundas (1685-1753),
lord president of the Scottish court of session, was born at
Edinburgh in 1742, and was educated at the high schooland
university there. Becoming a member of the faculty of advo-
cates in 1763, he soon acquired a leading position at the bar;
and he had the advantage of the success of his half-brother
Robert (17 13-1787), who had become lord president of the court
of session in 1760. He became solicitor-general to Scotland in
1766; but after his appointment as lord-advocate in 1775, he
gradually relinquished his legal practice to devote his attention
more exclusively to public business. In 1774 he was returned to
parliament for Midlothian, and joined the party of Lord North;
and notwithstanding his provincial dialect and ungraceful manner,
he soon distinguished himself by his clear and argumentative
speeches. After holding subordinate offices under the marquess
of Lansdowne and Pitt, he entered the cabinet in 1791 as home
secretary. From 1794 to 1801 he was secretary at war under
Pitt, who conceived for him a special friendship. In 1802 he
was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Melville and Baron
Dunira. Under Pitt in 1804 he again entered office as first lord
of the admiralty, when he introduced numerous improvements
in the details of the department. Suspicion had arisen, however,
as to the financial management of the admiralty, of which
Dundas had been treasurer between 1782 and 1800; in 1802 a
commission of inquiry was appointed, which reported in 1805.
The result was the impeachment of Lord Melville in 1806, on
the initiative of Samuel Whitbread, for the misappropriation of
public money; and though it ended in an acquittal, and nothing
more than formal negligence lay against him, he never again held
office. An earldom was offered in 1809 but declined; and he died
on the 28th of May 1811.
His son Robert, 2nd Viscount Melville (1771-1851),. filled
various political offices and was first lord of the admiralty from
1812 to 1827 and from 1828 to 1830; his name is perpetuated
by that of Melville Sound, because of his interest in Arctic
exploration. His eldest son, Henry Dundas, 3rd Viscount
(1801-1876), a general in the army, played a distinguished part
in the second Sikh War.
See Hon. J. W. Fortescue, History of the British Army, vol. iv.
(1907).
MELVILLE, HERMAN (1819-1891), American author, was
born in New York City on the ist of August 1819. He shipped
as a cabin-boy at the age of eighteen, thus being enabled to .make
his first visit to England, and at twenty-two sailed for a long
whaling cruise in the Pacific. After a year and a half he deserted
his ship at the Marquesas Islands, on account of the cruelty of the
captain; was captured by cannibals on the island of Nukahiva,
and detained, without hardship, four months; was rescued by
the crew of an Australian vessel, which he joined, and two years
later reached New York. Thereafter, with the exception of a
passenger voyage around the world in i860, Melville remained
in the United States, devoting himself to literature — though for a
considerable period (1866-1885) he held a post in the New York
custom-house — and being perhaps Hawthorne's most intimate
MELVILLE, JAMES— MEMBRANELLE
103
friend among the literary men of America. His writings are
numerous, and of varying merit; his verse, patriotic and other,
is forgotten; and his works of fiction and of travel are of irregular
execution. Nevertheless, few authors have been enabled so
freely to introduce romantic personal experiences into their
books: in his first work, Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life, or
Four Months' Residence in a Valley of the Marquesas (1846), he
described his escape from the cannibals; while in Omoo, a Narra-
tive of Adventures in the South Seas (1847), White Jacket, or The
World in a Man-of-War (1850), and especially Moby Dick, or The
Whale (1851), he portrayed seafaring life and character with
vigour and originality, and from a personal knowledge equal to
that of Cooper, Marryat or Clark Russell. But these records of
adventure were followed by other tales so turgid, eccentric,
, opinionative, and loosely written as to seem the work of another
author. Melville was the product of a period in American
literature when the fiction written by writers below Irving, Poe
and Hawthorne was measured by humble artistic standards. He
died in New York on the 28th of September 1801.
MELVILLE, JAMES (1556-1614), Scottish reformer, nephew
of Andrew Melville (q.v.), was born on the 26th of July 1556. He
was educated at Montrose and St Leonard's College, St Andrews.
In 1574 he proceeded to the university of Glasgow, of which his
uncle was principal, and within a year became one of the regents.
When his uncle was appointed, in 1580, principal of the New
(later, St Mary's) College, St Andrews, he was transferred to the
chair of Oriental languages there. For three and a half years
he lectured in the university, chiefly on Hebrew, but he had to
flee to Berwick in May 1584 (a few months after his uncle's exile)
to escape the attacks of his ecclesiastical enemy, Bishop Adam-
son. After a short stay there and at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and
again at Berwick, he proceeded to London, where he joined some
of the leaders of the Scottish Presbyterian party. The taking
of Stirling Castle in 1585 having changed the political and
ecclesiastical positions in the north, he returned to Scotland
in November of that year, and was restored to his office at St
Andrews. From 1586 to his death he took an active part in
Church controversy. In 1589 he was moderator of the General
Assembly and on several occasions represented his party in
conferences with the court. Despite his antagonism to James's
episcopal schemes, he appears to have won the king's respect.
He answered, with his uncle, a royal summons to London in
1606 for the discussion of Church policy. The uncompromising
attitude of the kinsmen, though it was made the excuse for send-
ing the elder to the Tower, brought no further punishment to
James than easy detention within ten miles of Newcastle-on-
Tyne. During his residence there it was made clear to him by
the king's agents that he would receive high reward if he sup-
ported the royal plans. In 1613 negotiations were begun for his
return to Scotland, but his health was broken, and he died at
Berwick in January 1614.
Melville has left ample materials for the history of his time from
the Presbyterian standpoint, in (a) correspondence with his uncle
Andrew Melville (MS. in the library of the university of Edinburgh),
and (b) a diary (MS. in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh). The
latter is written in a vigorous, fresh style, and is especially direct in
its descriptions of contemporaries. His sketch of John Knox at
St Andrews is one of his best passages.
As a writer of verse he compares unfavourably with his uncle. All
his pieces, with the exception of a " libellus supplex " to King James,
are written in Scots. He translated a portion of the Zodiacus
vitae of Palingenius, and adapted some passages from Scaliger
under the title of Description of the Spainyarts naturall. His
Spiritual Propine of a Pastour to his People (1598), The Black Bastill,
a lamentation for the kirk (161 1), Thrie may keip Counsell, give
Twa be away, The Beliefe of the Singing Soul, David's Tragique
Fall, and a number of Sonnets show no originality and indifferent
technical ability.
The Diary was printed by the Bannatyne Club in 1829, and
by the Wodrow Society in 1842. Large portions of it are incorpor-
ated in David Calderwood's (1575-1650) History of the Kirk of
Scotland (first printed in 1678). For the life and times, see Thomas
M'Crie's Life of Andrew Melville.
MELVILLE, SIR JAMES (1535-1617), Scottish diplomatist
and memoir writer, was the third son of Sir John Melville, laird
of Raith in the county of Fife, who was executed for treason in
1548. One of his brothers was Robert, 1st Baron Melville of
Monimail (1527-1621). James Melville in 1549 went to
France to become page to Mary Queen of Scots. Serving on the
French side at the battle of St Quentin in 1557 Melville was
wounded and taken prisoner. He subsequently carried out a
number of diplomatic missions for Henry II. of France. On
Mary's return to Scotland in 1561 she gave Melville a pension
and an appointment in her household, and she employed him as
special emissary to reconcile Queen Elizabeth to her marriage
with Damley. After the murder of Darnley in February 1567,
Melville joined Lord Hemes in boldly warning Mary of the danger
and disgrace of her projected marriage with Bothwell, and was
only saved from the latter's vengeance in consequence by the
courageous resolution of the queen. During the troubled times
following Mary's imprisonment and abdication Melville con-
ducted several diplomatic missions of importance, and won the
confidence of James VI. when the king took the government into
his own hands. Having been adopted as his heir by the reformer
Henry Balnaves, he inherited from him, at his death in 1579, the
estate of Halhill in Fife; and he retired thither in 1603, refusing
the request of James to accompany him to London on his acces-
sion to the English throne. At Halhill Melville wrote the
Memoirs of my own Life, a valuable authority for the history of
the period, first published by his grandson, George Scott, in 1683.
Sir James Melville died at Halhill on the 13th of November 161 7.
By his wife, Christina Bpswell, he had one son and two daughters;
the elder of these, Elizabeth, who married John Colville, de jure
3rd Baron Colville of Culross, has been identified with the
authoress of a poem published in 1603, entitled Ane Godlie
Dreame.
See the Memoirs mentioned above, of which the most modern
edition is that prepared by T. Thompson for the Bannatyne Club
(Edinburgh, 1827).
MELVILL VAN CARNBEE, PIETER, Baron (1816-1856),
Dutch geographer, was born at the Hague on the 20th of May
181 6. He traced his descent from an old Scottish family,
originally, it is said, of Hungarian extraction. Destined for the
navy, in which his grandfather Pieter Melvill van Carnbee
(1743-1810) had been admiral, he imbibed a taste for hydro-
graphy and cartography as a student in the college of Medemblik,
and he showed his capacity as a surveyor on his first voyage to
the Dutch Indies (1835). I n *839 he was again in the East,
and was attached to the hydrographical bureau at Batavia.
With the assistance of documents collected by the old East
India Company, he completed a map of Java in five sheets,
accompanied by sailing directions (Amsterdam, 1842). He
remained in the East till 1845 collecting materials for a chart of
the waters between Sumatra and Borneo (two sheets, 1845 and
1846). On his return to Holland he was attached to the naval
department with the charge of studying the history of the
hydrography of the Dutch East Indies. He also undertook,
in connexion with P. F. von Siebold, the publication of the
Moniteur des Indes, a valuable series of scientific papers, mainly
from his own pen, on the foreign possessions of Holland, which
was continued for three years. In 1850 Melvill returned to
India as lieutenant of the first class and adjutant to Vice- Admiral
van den Bosch; and after the premature death of this commander
he was